The Secret Circle IV: The Discovery
by Soraia
Summary: *Finished* Problems arise when the Club comes to grip with the fact that they are the last generation of witches in the New world. Diana volunteers to venture out and find others in Europe. While searching, she finds love . . . and trouble.
1. Happiness

Okay, I have NO CLUE why, but fanfiction.com somehow switched around the first two chapters. Massive confusion for you new readers. So, I'm fixing it. =) Here you go.

  
  


The Secret Circle; Volume IV: The Discovery

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own the characters or the general idea of The Secret Circle series. Those were created by L.J. Smith. The plot line and all other characters of this story have been created by me.

Chapter 1

The best view on Crowhaven Road would have to be from the bluff behind Number Twelve. The way the light shone off of the cool Atlantic water was breath taking, especially at sunset. Of course, Diana preferred sunrises. It represented the beauty of a dawning new day.

Always the first to arrive for these things, she thought to herself, cradling her knees to her chest. The meeting didn't start for another twenty minutes or so, but her two partners could show up early for once. But, Cassie was with Adam, like she always was nowadays, and Faye had to be fashionably late. Until someone else arrived, Diana would just have to wait . . . alone.

Her thoughts changed to Cassie Blake, her best friend, her foster sister. Six months ago, they had been inseparable. After everything they had been through, Faye trying to steal the coven, witch hunters, and defeating Black John, they had stayed close. Even after they had discovered that Cassie and Adam, Diana's boyfriend, were soulmates, and she had let them be together, she still had her best friend.

Diana realized that it hadn't exactly happened over-night. Her and Cassie were still close until just before the holidays. Slowly, Cassie spent more time with Adam than with Diana. She was sure that it was just because Cassie and Adam were spending time with their families, especially during the winter solstice. She guessed the celebration of inner renewal meant something else for them.

And then there was Faye Chamberlain. Diana and Faye were cousins, born within minutes of each other. Growing up they had been rivals, opposite as night and day. But ever since they had beat Black John, Faye had become gentler. She no longer set out to hurt people, but tried to be helpful and more professional. For a while, Diana and Faye had become closer, working together for the coven. Just like Cassie, though, Faye had gotten caught up in her life, and they hardly saw each other anymore.

It's not like the three didn't associate anymore. They spoke during rituals and meetings, but that was it. Diana had decided to graduate a semester early from school and had started taking psychology classes at the community college in Salem. She spent less time with the group now, no longer in the security of the "Club."

She was about to laugh until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see white tennis shoes walk up to her. The breeze brought Diana the scent of hyacinth as the person sat down next to her, and she looked up to see wild-flower blue eyes staring back into her own. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Hi, Cassie."

Cassie smiled back, "Hey Diana."

"You're early. Didn't Adam come with you?" Diana turned to look for him, not noticing him anywhere on the bluff.

"He's trying to talk Chris and Doug out of putting a smoke bomb in the witch dungeon."

They both laughed. The Henderson twins could cause some serious trouble when they weren't watched closely.

"Plus, I wanted to see how you've been doing."

Diana sighed. She looked up at Cassie, yearning to say what had been on her mind not even two minutes before, but couldn't. She didn't want to seem jealous. All she wanted was for Cassie and Adam to be happy. But she also wanted her best friend back.

And an everlasting love wouldn't hurt, either, the voice in her head whispered. Diana ignored it, tossing her hair to the side. She placed a smile on her face and replied, "Oh, I've been fine. Melanie and I have just been going and tracing ancestry lines." She saw the smile begin to fade on Cassie's face as she looked out over the water. "How have you been?"

Cassie shook her head, looking back at Diana. "Oh, great. Adam and I have been researching version 1.0 of Melanie's 'Floppy Disk of Shadows,'" she paused to giggle, pushing her fine, light-brown hair to the side, then continued, "And trying to see what kind of spells we can use in Laurel's quest for environmental peace. She won't believe me that we can't find a spell for fixing the o-zone layer."

Diana laughed, then realized a low chuckle had joined their joke. They both turned to see Faye walking up. She looked magnificent, as usual, even in casual clothes. She walked around with an air of seduction at all times. Today she was wearing her dark black hair up in a ponytail, and a pair of red sweats, to fend off the last of the winter chill.

"What is this?" Cassie grinned, "Fashionably early, for once?"

Faye's chuckle turned into a glance of contentment. "My favorite show was a rerun." She shrugged and sat on the other side of Diana.

Diana smiled. It was nice to have all of the coven's leaders there. She looked at her two counterparts, hiding a grin. They were all totally different in appearance. Diana was light, Faye dark, and Cassie a blend of both. That's how their personalities used to be, too.

Diana realized that they were the closest things she could have to two real sisters. Now they had their own lives to lead, though. She knew she'd never have the feeling of them being as close as they had been before.

They just sat in silence, looking at the sun beginning to set. Their calm didn't last long, though. It was interrupted by a loud ruckus of jeers behind them.

Turning around, Diana saw the Henderson brothers jumping out of their Suzuki Samurai, the vanity plate on the front reading "Flip Me." Their disheveled blond hair and tilted, blue-green eyes made them identical, but, once you knew them, you could tell them apart. Chris had a more gentle, kinder side, whereas Doug was more of the savage type.

Adam was getting out of the back of the jeep, laughing at the insane behavior of the brothers. Diana no longer got that pinched feeling in her chest when she saw Adam Conant. She watched him brush his wine-red hair to the side, and saw his ocean blue eyes gleam when he laughed.

The pixie-like girl walking up behind them was yelling passionately about the squirrel that they had almost hit, while the wise-looking brunette with her looked passed, shaking her head. Laurel Quincey was adamant about nature, while Melanie Glaser was more mellow and wise.

The roar of a motorcycle came speeding up the road. The Henderson brothers jumped out of the way as the leather covered girl zoomed past. Parking her bike, Deborah Armstrong tossed her blond hair to the side, laughing at the brothers. A '69 Mustang Coupe slowly pulled up next to the bike, and you could see her cousin, Nick, behind the wheel, with his dark hair glinting red from the setting sun.

A strawberry blond head came out of the passenger side of the Armstrong car, shaking out its long curls. Suzan Whittier wore an apricot-colored sweater that held well to her tiny waist and well-developed chest. Behind her, Sean Dulany crawled out. He didn't look as slinky as he used to, but he still was a small guy.

Diana sighed. This was her coven. She had known all of them since she was born, with the exception of Cassie. Yet, right now, she felt distant from all of them.

She stood, brushing dry grass off of her khaki pants. "Let's get this started." With Cassie and Faye on each side of her, they made the descent down the side of the bluff to the beach.


	2. Sunset

Chapter 2

Since there were three leaders of the group, now, they had separated the responsibilities. Faye was ahead of business and organization. She ran meetings, scheduled rituals, and kept track of everything they decided. Cassie was ahead of incantation and spells. Her duties included leading rituals and creating and keeping record of new spells from the group. Diana was leader in charge of research, resources, and relations. She gladly accepted the most responsibility. She took care of the master tools, the books of shadows, and anything they needed for rituals. She also worked on communication to improve relations with the outsiders.

Faye began the meeting. Diana watched her walk, not saunter, to the center of the group. "This meeting was called to discuss new matters and ideas concerning the coven. Does anyone have a point of business?"

Cassie stood to speak. "I wanted to suggest that we begin looking for ways of broadening our powers." 

"We've been trying to do that all of our lives, Cassie," Diana mentioned.

"I know," Cassie said excitedly. "But I've been looking through my family's book of shadows, and around the time they colonized this island, they were doing things that we haven't even thought of trying!"

Deborah, looking interested for once, raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"

Melanie answered for Cassie. "In the old books, it says they performed different spells that brought up prophecies, telepathy, astral projection, and some other things. In other words, they were able to enhance their psychic abilities."

Chris jumped in. "That would be so cool! We could read other people's thoughts and stuff?"

Doug was on the same thought path. "I could get the answers out of my teachers' heads and stuff! Cool!"

"That's going a little overboard, you guys," Adam said, trying to calm them down.

Melanie waited for silence to begin again. "Not quite, but not very far off, either. Some of that stuff is very risky, though, and we don't even have the slightest clue how to do it."

"Did your book say anything?" Laurel asked Cassie, then looked toward Melanie. "Cassie's book of shadows didn't make it into your program, so maybe there's some information that we don't know about in there."

Cassie's excitement began to die down. "No, my book only gave spells to use when you had the power. I figured one of you guys might know something."

"What about the master tools?" Sean asked. "Can't we use those? They do have the power of all the witches before us."

"First of all," Faye started, "we have to be careful of using the master tools. We can't just pull them out when we want to do something." Looks of disbelief spread through the group. Faye was the original person who wanted to use the tools at the drop of a hat.

Diana finished for her, "Second, we are still unsure of their power. We don't know how to control it, and that might get out of hand. We can still put the idea on the back burner, though."

Cassie sat down disappointedly. Deborah stood up next. "I have a point of business."

Faye looked at her, gesturing with her hand. "Go ahead, Deborah."

"How is the ancestry thing going? I don't know much about it, but I do know that I ain't marrying either of those two." She pointed directly at the Henderson brothers. They both made vomiting faces.

Everyone else in the group laughed until Suzan spoke up. "She has a good point. If we're the last generation in America, then this is it. Out of five guys and seven girls, I don't think we can repopulate the witches."

Melanie leaned on her elbow. "Diana and I have been looking through the archives and books. We've made some progress, but you have to wait. I mean, we're only teenagers. Other than Adam and Cassie, I seriously doubt any of us are in a hurry to get married."

Diana heard sighs come from Laurel and Suzan, and saw Sean and Deborah roll their eyes. The Henderson brothers made vomiting faces again. Adam and Cassie just looked into each other's eyes.

Cassie had told Diana in February that her and Adam were making plans. Of course it was quick, but what else do you need when you're soulmates? Cassie had asked her to be the maid-of-honor, and Diana had gladly accepted. It was still a couple years away, until after Cassie graduated, but it was a very romantic thought.

Then Diana glanced over at Nick. At the mention of Cassie marrying Adam, the already lack of attention in his eyes dimmed to bare existence. Cassie and Nick had had a thing in November, and everybody thought that it had blown over. Diana knew better, though. She saw the sadness in his eyes. It was obvious that he still loved her.

Everyone began discussing on new subjects. The Henderson brothers and Sean were talking about a bachelor party, Deborah and Faye about the master tools. Melanie and Laurel were explaining the family lines to Suzan, and Nick just sat by himself, a few feet away from Diana. Adam and Cassie saw nothing but each other.

Diana lied back on the sand, looking away. "Yuck," she muttered out loud to herself.

"You're saying you wouldn't want that?" Nick had lit a cigarette, moving closer to her.

She laughed. "And you would?"

"I don't know." He looked out toward the water. "Had you asked me six months ago, I would have laughed at you."

This was the most conversation Diana had had with Nick in a long time. She looked at Nick closely. "What about now?"

"Now?" He looked back at her. "I think I just want to be happy."

Diana looked around the group, thinking for a moment. Happiness. She knew how Nick felt. "What's happiness to you, Nick?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I'll know when I find it." He kind of gave her a half smile. "How about you?"

She pondered for a moment, biting her lip. "You know," she giggled, "I don't think I know, either." She thought for another second. "I think I just want . . . love. Not necessarily that," she pointed her chin at Adam and Cassie, "But just, not to sound too cliché, unity. I used to feel like I was a part of everyone in this circle. Now I feel like they've all outgrown me." Noticing Nick looking at the water again, she suddenly felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'm babbling. You probably don't want to know all of that stuff."

He smiled, "I asked, didn't I?"

She noticed his face fade as he glanced at Cassie. Diana felt the impulse to say something. "You know, you're not the only one who lost her. So, you're not alone."

"I didn't lose her," he said grimly, slowly standing to leave. "You can't lose something you never had."

"I'm sorry, Nick," she said quickly, thinking that she had offended him. "I didn't mean it--"

Nick cut her off by raising his hand. "It's okay," he said, in a halfway decent voice. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. And I know you lost your best friend. But there's one thing you were wrong about. I have always been alone." He stomped his cigarette into the sand as he walked away.

Diana didn't want to protest, but she felt a tug in her heart as he began to walk away.

She sighed, sitting up to look at the group. Members were slowly lingering away. She stood, brushing sand off of her. "If there's nothing else, then I think we can end this meeting."

Nobody objected. Nobody said anything. Diana turned to the path going up the bluff, slightly irritated. As she climbed, she began to understand what Nick was talking about. Being alone. She decided she needed to go someplace to think. And she knew the perfect place . . .


	3. Solitude

****

Chapter 3

Diana wasn't the only one looking at the stone memorial. There were about five other people. Three she could tell were a family of tourists. She saw the dad lean over, talking to the little girl of about eight or nine, and say to her, "Look, Tina, it says 'Sarah Goode.' She died because people thought she was a _witch_." Diana noted how the word rolled off of his tongue as if it were something he didn't use often.

The little girl, brunette curls swinging down her back, smiled up at her father. "That's silly daddy. Witches don't exist."

Diana bit her lip to keep from laughing. She shook her head, moving down the line, looking through all of the names. The words echoed in her head as she traced the engravings of the names.

__

These poor people, she thought. _They all died for crimes they didn't even commit. By time the first one was executed, our families were already gone . . ._

She drove down to Salem Commons. Whenever she wanted alone time anymore, she went to Salem. None of the group would be here. Here, she could think. 

She had already been to the Witch Dungeon Museum. Nothing new there. She still got the same chills she always did, still thought she could hear people in the dungeons. She had also walked through the wax museum. As usual, she only went through the witch area, not the pirate side. A voice tried to say something inside her head, but she pushed it aside. She wanted complete clarity on this outing.

She walked up to a large statue in the middle of the Commons. The man stood in a cloak and a tall hat, almost looking windblown. Diana smirked again when she read the plaque: _Roger Conant, Founder of Salem, 1592-1687_. _Had they only known about their own founder . . ._

Melanie and Diana had tried to trace back Adam's ancestry line first. It had been the most obvious, and, of course, they had gotten their hopes up. They couldn't trace it back that far at all. The Conant family that had stayed in England had vanished without a trace.

So had all of the other family lines they had found. Diana sighed deeply. She didn't want to be the last of her line. Sitting down on a bench, she began making mental notes of all of the families they had traced. They had checked everyone's parents' names, Melanie, Laurel, Chris and Doug, Adam, Deborah, Nick, Faye, Suzan, Sean, herself, and Cassie. She specifically remembered Cassie's family line. There were many of the previous coven leaders in the Howard line . . .

Diana stood up quickly. The evidence was right in front of her. She made a sprint for her car, hoping she'd get to the library with enough time to look before it closed.


	4. Salem

****

Chapter 4

Diana almost beat Melanie's door in. She was taking exceptionally long to answer. The knocker was cold under Diana's fingers, and she was afraid Melanie wasn't home. She had to talk to her that second.

Mrs. Burke yanked the door open while Diana was in mid-knock. She fumbled for words, but couldn't find any.

"Is there a fire, Diana?" Mrs. Burke asked curtly, eyeing the stack of books and papers in her hands.

Diana laughed awkwardly. "I have something really important to show Melanie. I'm sorry, I'm just really excited."

"She's in the study." Mrs. Burke turned on her heel and walked down the hallway, leaving the front door open.

Diana shut it quickly and made her way down the hall. The door to the study was open, and she peered in. As organized as Melanie was, the room was in complete disorder. Books, papers, and pens were strewn about the room. Among the mess was Melanie, sitting at a computer monitor in a daze. Diana lightly knocked, causing Melanie to jump.

"I'm sorry," Diana giggled.

"It's okay," Melanie replied, turning in her computer chair. She began to clean off a seat for Diana. "Sit down. What's up?"

Sitting down, Diana placed the items in her hands into Melanie's. "I think I found a link to the past." She couldn't hide the smile from coming to her lips.

Melanie raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Diana meant. She began to shift through the items in her hands. She read the titles of the books out loud, "_Pirates of the 17th Century_, _Pirate Surnames_, _Salem Name Records_." She held the last book up, "I know for a fact you're not supposed to take this out of the library."

Diana shook her head, "That's besides the point! Are you seeing any connection here?"

"You have a psychology report on Blue Beard? No, Diana, I'm completely missing what you're getting at."

The excitement was barely confinable. "Have we checked _everyone's_ families?"

Melanie sighed, aggravated. "Yes: yours, Adam's, Laurel's, Faye's, the Henderson's, Suzan's, Nick's, Deborah's, Sean's, Cassie's, and mine. Is there a family we're missing?"

"Kind of." Diana took a book from the bottom the pile in Melanie's hands. The cover read, "Legendary Pirates of New England." She opened it to a picture that ran shivers through her body. A familiar face she'd give anything to never see again. She held the page out to Melanie. "Now you tell me who we forgot."

Melanie rolled her eyes at first. She wasn't one much for games. But when she actually looked at the page, her eyes widened. She blinked a few times, then looked up at Diana. "How could have we forgot?"

Diana laughed. "We always put it behind us. Nobody ever thinks about Cassie's father being Black John. And we totally forgot he was a pirate."

"But even I stepped over this," Melanie breathed lightly. "I didn't even think about the fact that he was a part of the original coven." She looked back down at the book, then laughed. "Well, that's original. His real name was John Smith."

"I know," Diana replied. "And I kept looking through these books, and looked it up on the web, and even looked through the my family's book of shadows, and I found it!" She pulled a handful of papers from a red folder she had in her hand. She handed these over to Melanie, as well. "He had a brother, Dagan Smith. He was also a pirate, just not as terrible. Look, right here," she pointed to an area on the paper, "He decided to become a captain of a ship called, '_Hera_.' He took a convoy of families to a place in Ireland to colonize, and named it . . ."

"_Salem_," they read together.

The two girls looked at each other, both eyes glittering. "You better put on a pot of coffee," she said to Melanie. "We're going to be up all night finding these guys."


	5. By Myself

_*Thanks to those of you who reviewed the story so far! I have more chapters finished, I just need to edit them and make them suitable for reading. =) I'll get them up as fast as I can!* _**** Chapter Five 

Diana glanced at the group on the beach. Melanie and she had been up all night searching the Internet and had finally found what they were looking for.

Chris moved uncomfortably. "We're all here. Can you tell us why?"

Doug nodded. "We've got stuff to do."

"I believe that this is more important than pipe bombs," Melanie sighed.

"Come on!" Laurel said eagerly. "I'm dying to know what this is about."

Faye turned to Diana. "You called this, you tell."

Diana smiled, taking a deep breath. "We've found another coven."

Other than Melanie and Nick, every jaw fell open.

After a long moment of silence, Adam was the first to speak. "Where?"

"In Ireland, in the city of Salem." Diana looked around to see wonder cross the face of every member. She continued on. "Melanie and I were able to contact a member of their coven. Her name is Katherine. She told us that they have been searching for us for generations, and were never able to find a link from Salem to New Salem."

"How many of them are there?" Laurel asked quietly.

"Too many to count. They have a number of covens coexisting in this town, of all different ages. Nobody's left the town in centuries, unless it was to search for other groups from around the world."

"So what's the next step?" Cassie asked, expectantly.

Diana looked at Melanie and received the okay to continue. Diana sighed, then began to speak. "Since everyone here is still in school, I volunteered to take the trip."

"By _yourself_?" Faye exclaimed with worry in her voice. "You can't possibly go alone."

"It's just easier this way," Diana explained. "I am the leader in charge of relations, after all."

Cassie looked at her, sadness crossing her face. "What if something happens? You need someone to come with you."

"I will be all right." Diana knew she would have to fight her point.

"I'll go with you," Adam said solemnly.

"No," she replied. "This isn't your job. Cassie and Faye need you here, to take my place while I'm gone. You know everything there is to do in my absence."

"I refuse to let you go without somebody," Cassie said, standing up.

"Who could possibly go with me, Cassie? Every one of you is still in school. I'm as eager as all of you to make a connection with these guys, I don't want to put it off any longer than we need to."

A voice came strongly from an unexpected quarter. "I'll go."

Diana turned slowly to look at Nick. He was standing, making his point more clear. "I never go to school as it is. I'll go."

She shook her head. "I don't need you to go, I'll be fine by myself."

"No, you won't. You're strong, Diana, and hard-willed, but you need someone else. And I need to get out off of this island."

She looked to Melanie for support, but none was there. "They have a point, Diana."

She sighed deeply. "Fine, Nick will go with me. Are you happy?" Everyone in the group looked content, and she shook her head. She sat down next to Melanie, letting out a deep breath of air. "Let's discuss the plans."


	6. Flying

****

Chapter 6

Diana had never flown anywhere. She gazed out of the window, watching the sunlight rise above the clouds. It had to be the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen.

It had been a week since they had discovered the coven, and Nick and she were on their way to Ireland. He sat steadily in his seat, eyes closed.

"Have you ever been on a plane before, Nick?"

"Nope." He didn't stir.

She looked back out the window, not wanting to bother him. She noticed the plane lightly going into the clouds. Over the speaker, she heard the flight attendant announce that they were almost at their destination. Diana sat back and enjoyed the descend, noting that she had never felt something so exhilarating in her life.

As the plane made it's way to the gate, she twisted her napkin around in her fingers. She was very nervous. Everything would be a new experience for her. New people, new country, and she knew her life would never be the same.

"You'll be fine, Diana," Nick whispered near her ear.

She turned slowly and smiled at him. Now that he was sitting up, she could see he was anxious as well. The plane ride alone seemed to make Nick look like a different person. There was a gleam in his eye that she had never seen before, and easiness to the constant grim look to his face. He slid his sunglasses down, standing to grab their stuff from the overhead compartment.

Diana made her way off of the plane and stood next to Nick in the terminal. She wasn't quite sure what to look for. She knew that Katherine would be meeting them there, along with the leader of her coven. Diana wasn't sure what they looked like, but she had sent details of herself and Nick to Katherine.

Her and Nick made their way through the crowd until she saw a girl sprinting towards them. Her long, wavy brown mane of hair swept down her back and her bright, violet eyes shined as she smiled. The girl slowed down to embrace Diana. In a clear, English accent, the girl spoke, "Unity, Diana. I am Katherine."

Diana laughed, dropping her bags to hug the girl back. As she let go, Katherine grabbed Nick to hug him as well. Diana tensed, hoping he wasn't rude.

"Unity, Nicholas. Welcome."

To Diana's great surprise, Nick hugged her back, laughing.

Still smiling, Diana turned and froze. Walking toward her was a tall boy, no older than her, with golden blond hair falling over matching eyes, and a smile that looked as if it never came off of his face. He was wearing baggy blue jeans, and a loose, green shirt with long sleeves. He was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life.

Amazingly, he leaned over and hugged her. "Unity, Diana." His voice was light and crisp, sending chills down her spine. Releasing her, he looked down and smiled again. "I am Aidan."

"It's very nice to meet you," Diana grinned.

"The pleasure is all mine."

She began to blush, and decided to distract herself. "Aidan, this is Nick."

Nick reached out to meet Aidan's hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Unity, Nick," Aidan replied.

Diana was overwhelmed. She had never met such kind people in her life. Aidan reached over and grabbed Diana and Nick's bags, walking toward the luggage pick up.

With their bags in hand, they headed out to Aidan's car. The hunter green Volkswagen Jetta sat parked in short term parking. Diana sat in the back seat next to Nick, completely anticipating their arrival in Salem.

Once on the road, Katherine began with questions. "How many covens are there on your island?"

A look passed between Diana and Nick before she answered. "One."

Katherine looked back at them, apparent shock in her eyes. "Only one?"

Diana sighed. "It's kind of a long story. The digest version is that the families all slowly diminished into our few. This could have been prevented in the last generation, but something kept it from happening."

Aidan looked at Diana in the mirror. "We have several covens, of all different ages. Our coven is the prime one. We're all of respectful age, with more than enough people."

"Your lucky," Diana said wistfully. "We're the last generation in America. No one wants it to end with us."

Katherine turned and smiled at her again. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing you found us."


	7. Welcomed

****

Chapter 7

The drive hadn't been too long, but the path reminded Diana of the road to New Salem: tidy and out of the way. The biggest surprise came when they entered the main neighborhood.

Diana gasped, Nick's jaw dropped, and the two in the front seat were smiling ear-to-ear. Almost one hundred people were standing out in the road, clapping and smiling. Diana slowly got out of the car behind Nick, and walked toward the large group. The closest people looked about her own age. _They must be the primary coven_, she thought to herself.

Everything was unfamiliar to Diana. For the next half of an hour, she was hugging, shaking hands, and hearing names that she quickly forgot. And there wasn't a sore look in the group. There wasn't a person there that looked as if they had been forced to come. There was even a group of small children that ran out and circled them, calling, "Unity," together. She looked over at Nick, who was wearing a smile that she had never seen before.

She smiled to herself. _You're not alone here_.

They followed Aidan and Katherine to a large house toward the end of the road. They walked inside, in awe of the beautiful paintings in the main foyer. It reminded Diana of her sketches. She saw Aphrodite, Hera, Athena, and so many others.

She almost jumped when someone whispered in her ear. "Do you like them?"

Diana looked up at Aidan, beginning to blush again. She had never been so bashful in her life. "They remind me of some sketches I did at home."

"Really?" His eyes lit up in surprise. "I've been working on them for years."

"Seriously?" Diana was amazed. "They're astounding!"

He smiled gently. "Thank you. Maybe someday I'll see yours."

"Maybe, if you ever come to the States. But mine are nothing compared to these."

"I imagine they have a beauty of their own."

The four of them continued to walk down the hall until they entered a gigantic living room, a large fire burning in the fireplace. Aidan turned to look at Diana again. "Since you guys had such a long flight, and will be feeling the effects of jet-lag soon, why don't I show you to your rooms?"

Diana and Nick looked at each other and nodded. She could feel fatigue taking over her body.

Diana was grateful when they made it to her room. Nick's room had been monstrous, and hers was no different. The room was bright, with white walls and light green trim. The quilt on the bed was a wonderful pattern of green leaves. Everything in the room was made of a sturdy light wood, probably oak, she thought. A fireplace burned gently from the far wall. Another door led to her own private bathroom. She ran in to look it over.

"Is this good?" Aidan asked.

"This room is too much," she laughed, coming out of the forest theme bathroom. "You'd think I was living here forever!" She set her stuff down and spread herself out on the bed.

He smiled at her. "I hope you enjoy my house while you're here."

"This is your _house_?" she gasped. "I thought maybe you guys had a meeting hall or something. It must be wonderful."

"It's okay, it just gets kind of lonely."

Diana looked at him slowly, noting the look of sadness in his eyes as he said the word. "I guess it could be."

He shook his head, coming back to Earth. "I have a meeting to start in about twenty minutes. I'll come back up afterwards so we can talk leader-to-leader. That way you can get some rest."

Nodding, she smiled. "That would be nice." She closed her eyes as he made his way out the door.

Within seconds, she was dreaming. But it wasn't actually a dream. All she could see was s silver light completely surrounding her. She couldn't understand it, but she knew the dream was trying to tell her something. When she thought she had put her finger on it, the dream started to flow away from her.

She awoke to a knock on her door. She sat up, seeing Nick walk in. He sat at the dressing table, stretching his arms behind his head and smiling.

"You're just loving this, aren't you?" Diana laughed.

Nick just grinned at her, a face she hadn't seen since they were little kids.

"Then I'm glad you came with me." She propped herself up on her pillows, snuggling into them. "I don't think I've ever seen you so happy, Nick. You actually look . . . content."

"Stranger things have happened," he said. "It's just nice to get away, meet some new people. Everyone's nicer than Hell here. We don't see this kind of reaction back home. Maybe if we did, I would have been more into the witchcraft thing."

Diana felt her heart sink a little bit at that. She had always been a leader. "I guess I could never build this kind of moral at home, where people cherished what they had, instead of wanting more."

Nick sat up to look at her. "That's not what I meant, Diana. It wasn't your fault. I never had a problem with what you were doing. Everything you did was to better us. It's Black John's fault, for coming back and screwing up our parents."

All she could do was shrug. Luckily, Aidan walked in, stopping the awkward silence that was about to start.

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked, beginning to back out of the door.

Nick stood up to leave. "Nope, we were just talking. I'm gonna go get something to eat." He gave Diana one last look before walking out. It seemed to say, "I'm sorry."

She gave a sigh before looking up at Aidan. "So you wanted to talk?" She smiled, blocking out the last nagging thing on her mind.

"If you'd rather I come back later . . . "

"No, no. Don't worry. What did you want to talk about?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to know about you, how you ran your coven, what you've learned, things like that."

She laughed, thinking of everything they had been through in the past year. "Well, I'm seventeen, and one of three leaders of our coven. I was the only leader until November, when we went through a minor conflict that eventually worked out. We've mainly worked on the basics of our craft. We each have our elements, our colors, our stones," she lifted the chain around her neck to show the peridot hanging from it, "We've been tried and have come up successful."

"Conflict?" he asked. "What kind of conflict?"

Diana bit her lip, trying to think of an easy way to explain it. "Well, the spirit of a dead witch came back and tried to ruin our parents' lives, then tried to ruin ours."

She wasn't surprised to see his mouth hang down in shock. She shook her head and took a breath. This would take a while to explain.


	8. Knowing

****

Chapter 8

"And we invoked the powers which were ours alone," Diana was finishing. "Faye joined our side, thank the goddess, and Cassie came up with the brilliant idea of thinking of the beach. The only way to destroy a crystal is with a larger crystal, and that's what sand and water is. Then he was gone."

Aidan was smiling, "That is amazing. But if Faye and Cassie were both all ready leaders, how did you become one again, too?"

She smiled wistfully. "Cassie said she wouldn't do it without me by her side."

"Sounds like a great friend."

Diana was speaking, not even realizing what she was saying. "She was."

Aidan cocked an eyebrow. "Was?"

She was shocked, realizing she had said that out-loud. "Um, well, we were great friends. We just drifted apart. Everyone kind of drifted away from me."

"How could that happen?" Aidan looked upset. His strong English accent emphasizing the words. "You seem to be a wonderful girl, Diana. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to go a day without you in their lives."

She was perplexed by his comments. He hardly knew her, yet he felt so fiercely about her goodwill. "Well, my ex-boyfriend is Cassie's soulmate. I guess when you find your soulmate, nothing else in the world matters. I respect that, I just miss her. As for everyone else, all I can say is that they have their own lives to lead."

He looked shocked again. "Soulmates? Really? I've heard of those, but I didn't think they existed. I thought it was just old lore."

"I think everyone hopes that they exist. Now that I've seen proof of it, I know they do. You just have to be lucky enough to find yours. They were fortunate to find each other, and I'm really happy for them. It just leaves me, well, lonely, I guess."

"Well, just remember," he said gently, "You will always have friends here. No matter where you are in the world, everyone here is your friend. Especially me." He set his hand on hers.

And that's when it happened. Diana couldn't exactly explain what _it_ was. A feeling of knowing, a feeling of wanting. She felt like she had known Aidan her whole life. And she didn't feel alone anymore.

As quickly as it started, it stopped. He had moved his hand, continuing the conversation. "So, what kind of things are you working on in your coven?"

Diana could only stare for a minute. She was amazed at what had just happened. Shaking her head, finally, she replied. "Um, we're not focusing on anything in particular. We're always looking for ways to broaden our powers, but we're kind of left high and dry because of our parents. None of them will teach us anything, so most of the power has been left behind. We're not even sure how to use our Master Tools."

"Well this is fantastic!" he laughed. Diana gave him a confused look, so he continued. "We can help you! We can share our experience with you, to help broaden your coven's powers."

Diana gave a light smile. "That's really nice of you, but there's nothing we can do for you in return."

"I imagine we can learn something from you. We're having a little get-together tonight here, in honor of you guys. You can meet everyone then."

She was going to say something, but was interrupted by Katherine coming in the door. "Dinner is ready. Nicholas has already started."

Aidan looked over at Diana. "Come on, we can talk more down there."

She was confused, but she followed anyway.


	9. Sadness

****

Chapter 9

Diana sat at the huge dining table, staring at the food on her plate. It looked a little obscure only having four people sitting at a table set for at least twenty.

Aidan had been going on for about twenty minutes about the party they were having that night. She hadn't really been paying attention, just moving her food around on the plate, not as hungry as she thought she was.

Nick was talking now. "So, why do you guys have British accents? I figured you'd be speaking with Irish accents."

Katherine smiled politely. "When our ancestors settled here, there were no other people, so we had no other accent to adapt to. We've all grown up with it. Even though our accent hasn't evolved, our language has."

Diana smiled, finding that interesting. "So, why did your ancestors move here?"

Aidan answered. "The same reason you went to New Salem. Witch hunters."

She was slightly surprised. "Really? What a coincidence."

"Isn't it? But we haven't had problems since. We've just lived here peacefully. Definitely nothing like what has happened to you guys."

Nick snorted. "Be grateful."

The doorbell rang through the house. Aidan stood to answer it, leaving them all at the table. Diana took one last look at her plate, deciding she didn't want anymore. People were entering the room to set up for the buffet they were having with the party, so she just moved out of the room, deciding to take her own private tour.

Walking down a long hallway on the second floor, she came across more artwork. She couldn't place what exactly these were. They seemed to be paintings of past functions and covens. Making her way down the hall further, she saw portraits.

She stopped in front of the first one, reading the plaque underneath it: _Dagan Smith, Leader 1689-1709_. It was a tribute hall to leaders. She continued searching, looking through the paintings. Beautiful women and handsome men lined the walls of the hallway. She saw a few that almost looked familiar. One had strawberry blond hair, curling past her shoulders. She looked amazingly similar to Suzan.

She came to the last portrait in the hall. Standing tall and proud was Aidan. She read the inscription to his: _Aidan Smith, Leader 1989-._

He's a Smith, she thought, reaching up to touch the plaque. He's a direct descendant of Black John, and a distant relative of Cassie.

"There you are," his voice came out.

Diana looked at the portrait, suddenly realizing he was behind her. She turned to him quickly. "Yeah, here I am. I was just giving myself a tour of the house." She looked back at the picture. "This is a wonderful composite of you. It captures everything, even the gleam in your eyes." They look kind of sad, she added to herself.

"Thanks," he said wistfully.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, curious to know what could make him so upset.

"It's nothing." He started to turn away.

"You don't have to tell me," she said quickly. "But, just so you know, you can. Like you said earlier, I'm your friend."

"Diana?" Nick's voice interrupted. She turned quickly to him, seeing he had a cordless phone in his hand. "It's Faye. She wanted to see how everything was going."

She turned back to Aidan, seeing that he was already walking down the hall in the opposite direction. Diana took the phone from Nick, and walked back toward the stairway. "Faye?"

"Hey Diana!" she heard Faye's voice from thousands of miles away. "How is everything going there?" 

"Everything's fine. Everyone's been incredibly nice. They're even going to teach Nick and I some stuff to broaden our powers."

"That's great! So, are there any cute guys there?"

Diana laughed. Some things will never change. "I haven't met them all yet, but yes, there are."

"Hmmm," Diana could see Faye smiling and tapping her bright red nails. "I guess I'll have to take a trip there this summer."

"Maybe we all will." She was entering one of the living rooms and saw the party was starting. "I'm gonna have to let you go, Faye. The party's starting."

"A party?" Faye exclaimed. "I have a Literature exam in the morning, and you're going to be up all night at a party? I cannot believe this."

"I'll give you a call tomorrow, okay? Bye." Diana hung up the phone, setting it on a table. She walked up to where Nick was talking to a group of teenagers.

"Hey Di, let me introduce you." Nick put an arm around her, gesturing to the five people around them. "This is Natasha and Aria Torchia." He was speaking of twin girls, no older than they were, with auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes. Next he pointed to a guy who looked a couple of years older, with short cut hair that had been bleached to almost white, and deep brown eyes. "That's Jon Goode. And they are Renee Howard and James Meade." These two looked almost as if they could be close cousins of Cassie and Diana. Renee had the same corn-flower blue eyes that Cassie had, with Mrs. Blake's dark, midnight hair, and James had both Diana's soft golden hair and peridot green eyes.

Diana greeted everyone warmly. Nick began to explain how they were teaching him to heat objects in his hands. She laughed and moved on, looking for Aidan.

Along the way through the room, everyone she came close to greeted her. They were all being so nice. She barely noticed when Aidan approached her.

"How is everything?"

Diana gasped when she saw him. He had changed into a pair of black slacks, with a light blue dress shirt. The outfit brought out his golden features dramatically. Diana had never seen anyone more handsome in her life.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, looking slightly worried.

"Oh, no," Diana laughed sheepishly. "You just, well . . ." she shook her head. "To be honest? You took my breath away."

Aidan laughed with her. "I wasn't expecting that, but okay."

Katherine ran up, grabbing Diana's arm. "Come with me, there's some people I want you to meet."

"I was going to talk to Aidan . . ." Diana started.

"We'll talk later." He gave her that sad smile again. "You'll be here for five more days. We have plenty of time."

She continued to watch him as Katherine dragged her away.

They walked into a lounge where two girls were sitting on leather couches. Diana sat next to Katherine, waiting to be introduced.

"Diana, I want you to meet my _closest_ friends. This is Elizabeth Tyler and Erica Johnson."

Elizabeth reminded Diana of Laurel. She had light brown hair, and almost an elfish body structure. Erica had long blond hair, the color of honey, and bright violet eyes.

Erica was the first to speak. "How do you like it here so far, Diana?"

"Oh, it's wonderful!" she replied. "All of you have been so nice. And it's great to see so many people that completely enjoy what they do."

Elizabeth spoke next. "Nick told us everything you've been through in your coven. It must be so exciting!"

Diana shook her head, smiling. "If I were given the option, I would never go through that again."

Katherine gave a sly grin, "Are all the guys in your coven as handsome as Nick?"

Diana gave a refreshing laugh. "Well, our four other guys have their own beauty, just the girls in our coven are looking for something new. The Henderson brothers are mischievous as Hell, but quite handsome. Sean looks kind of tiny at first, but once you get to know him, he's a great guy. Adam, my ex-boyfriend, has those gallant good looks, almost medieval. But, he has his soulmate, so he's hands off."

Elizabeth gave a huge grin. "Soulmates? That sounds so romantic. I didn't think they actually existed."

"Oh, yes." Diana smiled. "It's in my family's Book of Shadows. From what Cassie, Adam's soulmate, has told me, you're linked to the other person by some sort of supernatural silver cord. You never feel complete until you find that one person."

"You can say that again!" Katherine giggled.

Erica turned to Diana. "So what do you think of Aidan's house? Great, huh?"

Diana sighed. "It's amazing. It's so big, and he's been very . . . nice."

The three girls looked at each other, then back at Diana. Katherine gave a wistful sigh. "He definitely is nice. It's just too bad he doesn't realize how great he is."

Diana looked at the girls. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Aidan's special. All of the girls know he is. He cares about everyone and everything in the world, and feels that there is good in everybody." Diana thought that reminded her of something Faye had once said about her . . . "He just doesn't notice that we think that way."

Diana looked at them, confused. Katherine sat up and continued from Elizabeth's speech. "When we were little, about six years old, word came to our parents' coven that a new group of witches had been found. The tip hadn't come directly to us; it had just traveled from town to town until we got it. They were said to be in London, so a small party from the coven left in search of them. It was only about four people, one of them was my father, the other was his sister, Aidan's mother.

"Aidan begged his mother not to go. He said he had had a bad feeling. Since we were so young, our parents didn't take it seriously. They left for England, and the next day Aidan was struck down by an illness. All of the healers tried, but couldn't bring down his fever or stop his chills and constant wailing.

"On the third day of his illness, he started to jabber and scream, and then fell silent. He turned to the healer in the room and said, 'She's gone.' Nobody had any clue what he was talking about, until about an hour later. My father called to tell everyone that the rumor had been a trick. A group of witch hunters had taken them on the first day and had been torturing them the whole time they had been gone. My father said that the hunters had used old methods of torture, like pressing, stretching, choking, burning, but wouldn't kill any of them. On the final day, when Aidan went silent, they killed his mother for not saying where the coven was located. The remaining party was able to get free, but Aidan's life has been scarred."

Erica looked up. "He's never told anyone what was happening to him during his illness. He's never mentioned the incident since. There's just always been a sad look about him. He's always smiling, but you can see it in his eyes."

Diana nodded. "I knew something was wrong, I just had no clue it was something like that. But I thought you guys said nothing _exciting_ has happened here in centuries?"

Katherine shrugged. "Nobody chooses to remember that, because there was nothing we could do. But you're our sister," she smiled, setting her hand on Diana's shoulder, "You have a right to know."

Diana was warmed. They truly accepted her. "Thank you," she grinned lightly. "That really means a lot."

Elizabeth stood. "Let's try to get into a lighter mood, shall we? Come Diana. We'll go introduce you to some of the gentlemen we have here so you can tell your girls at home that they don't have to worry anymore."


	10. Power

****

Chapter 10

Diana woke early the next morning. The night before had been very draining. She couldn't even begin to count the amount of people she had met, forget remembering their names. She enjoyed the peaceful feeling she received from her shower, the herbs running through her veins and the serene green of the tiles and wallpaper bringing up her mood. She got out and put on a pine green cardigan that brought out her eyes, and a pair of khaki jeans.

When she arrived in the breakfast room, Nick was already there, talking to Aidan. "So you can help us with the Master Tools?"

Aidan looked up at Diana. "As long as it's okay with your coven leader over there."

She blushed, realizing that she was standing in the doorway. She sat down at the table as a lady with graying black hair set a plate of food in front of her. "It's totally okay with me," she said, moving pieces of her omelet around.

"Great. We can begin today." Aidan lifted himself from his seat. "I'll go get our Master Tools ready."

Nick turned to her as Aidan left the room. "Diana, thank you so much for bringing me here."

She smiled at him. "You're welcome, Nick, even though you wouldn't let me go without you."

He laughed. "I just finally feel . . ."

"Like you belong?" she finished for him.

"Yeah. I do."

"I can tell. I've never seen you so happy and sociable." She took a sip of her water.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, too. You're more outgoing here, more free-willed. And everyone thinks your so nice, not to mention the guys are constantly talking about how beautiful you are."

Diana nearly choked on her water. She swallowed, then took a few breaths. Slowly she smiled and leaned over to Nick. "Excuse me?"

Just then, Aidan walked back into the room with a beautifully crafted mahogany box, about the size of a small suitcase. "Here they are."

Diana got up from the table. She walked over, looking at the markings of the box. The box itself seemed to be enchanted. She began to trace the designs with her finger.

"This box has held these items since our two groups separated. There's a spell on it to keep evil from touching it." He smiled down at her.

She looked up, caught in his gaze. Something in her mind was going off, but she couldn't listen. She looked away, toward Nick. "Let's go outside and check them out."

Nick looked at her cautiously, having noticed the moment of tension. "Sure, sounds good to me."

They followed Aidan to the back of the house, which expanded into acres of green land. He stopped them in a clear area. Looking at Diana, he grinned. "You open it."

She smiled brightly, feeling very fortunate for the chance to see another set of Master Tools. She carefully opened the box, feeling power run through her fingers. She breathed in lightly at the sight of the objects. Reaching for them, she looked up at Aidan for approval. He nodded lightly, as she lifted them from the box.

The first was an armband, the same as her own, with the same designs and curves. The other two were different from her coven's set. There was an anklet, shining as beautifully as the arm cuff had, and a necklace of some sort. She held each end of the piece of jewelry, lifting it up to examine. It had long charms of the same metal as the cuff, with each piece having a different phase of the moon. Between the links were pieces of green silk, just as the garter belt at home had. She heard Nick whistle behind her.

"Here's how we'll do this," Aidan started, setting the box on the ground. "Each of us will put on a piece of the set, and I'll show you different ways to use them."

"Are you sure?" Diana asked worriedly.

"Of course. Here, everyone has access to the tools. I just have to be around." He took the necklace and laced it around Diana's neck. "This is the most powerful of the three."

She could feel the energy as it set on her collarbone. It was almost exactly like when she had tried the tools at home. The only variance was that she felt a different knowledge. This had been worn by different witches than hers had. She could almost hear the necklace humming.

She looked to see that Nick had the arm cuff on. She felt warm looking at Nick's expression. He had never felt that kind of power before. He looked like he enjoyed it greatly.

Aidan was connecting the anklet to himself. Standing up, he began softly, "Okay, the first thing I want you guys to do is clear your mind. Focus only on what the tool is generating, actually listen to it. It's not going to actually speak to, but you will generally grasp what it's telling you."

Diana understood what he meant. Her eyes were closed and her mind was filled with a pure white light.

"Now," he continued. "Take this." Diana looked to see Aidan slipping a small amount of sand into her hand, then doing the same to Nick. "Clasp both of your hands together, and concentrate. Tell your energy that you want to heat the object in your hand. Think of any gem that comes to mind."

Diana followed instructions, and the response was almost natural to her. She felt her power coursing through her body from the necklace, all the way through her hands. A golden light had flared through her mind and slowly dimmed. When she knew it was over she looked into her hands and gasped. On her palm laid a perfect golden topaz. She picked it up and examined it with the light.

Aidan was walking up to her, all ready speaking. "The gem you've created is a part of you. There's a legend that it holds part of your soul, and carries the powers you use." He stopped almost abruptly, looking at the stone she held in the air. "A topaz?"

"Is that bad?" she asked, suddenly self-conscience.

"No, you did marvelous. I just figured you'd create a peridot, since that's you're working stone." He held out his hand, asking for the stone.

"I thought I would have, too," she said, watching him examine it. "But my mind encouraged this. The necklace arranged my thoughts so that I knew the order my power had to take, and this came of it."

He handed her back the stone. "For the most part, the _tools_ teach you. You just have to master directing them."

Diana looked to see that Nick had made a tiger's eye. He had a look on his face that said he was proud of what he was doing. Her heart lightened, then sank a little bit. _Too bad I couldn't inspire anyone like this_.

Katherine came around the corner of the house then, serving as a good distraction. She had Elizabeth and Erica behind her, with the Torchia twins close by. "Are we interrupting?" Katherine asked politely.

"Not at all," Aidan smiled. "What can we do for you?"

"Well, Nicholas promised to look at my car today, but if you're busy, he can help later."

"We can work on this later," Aidan smiled.

Nick was already taking the cuff off of his arm. Diana took his cue and unhooked the back of the necklace. It felt almost as if the energy had snapped when it left her neck. She placed it gently in the box next to the cuff.

She began to walk toward the house but was stopped by Aidan's voice. "Would you like a formal tour of the house?"

Stopping to think, she turned slowly to look at him. "That would be nice."

He strode up next to her, offering his arm, smiling. She took it carefully, her hand clasping around the sleeve of his arm, felling the muscle underneath.

She gave one final look to the group disappearing to the side of the house. Katherine was looking at her and Aidan, smiling, before jogging to catch up with her group.


	11. Incarnation

****

Thanks again to my reviewers! =) I can't tell you anything about the story, though, you'll just have to read it yourselves! I can tell you one thing, actually: _The ending is a sweet surprise._

I just wrote this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it! Please review so that I can decide whether or not I want to keep going the direction I'm going.

~Soraia~

Chapter 11

The house was much larger than Diana had thought. On the first floor there were two living rooms, the kitchen, a breakfast room and a banquet dining room. On the second floor had been ten bedrooms and a large office, and an uncountable amount of bathrooms.

They were making their way up to the third floor. "Up here there are only three rooms, but they're as large as apartments," he was saying.

"I've been in hotels smaller than this, Aidan," Diana laughed.

He smiled, sharing her joke. "I know. I feel bad having such a house sometimes."

"Why?" she asked, astonished. "I'd feel like a queen in this place. I already do!"

"I just feel it's wrong to live so nicely when other people can't. Someone surely deserves this house much more than I do."

She stopped at the top of the stairway, putting her hands on her hips. "You, sir, are insane. Out of anyone I've ever met, you would have to be the nicest. And I mean _ever_. You want nothing but to give what you can to other people. I've never felt more at home anywhere, including the house I've lived in my whole life."

The sad look that had started on his face quickly stopped. He smiled gently. "You really think so?"

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course I do. Now, let's continue the tour of the magnificent Smith home." She looped her arm through his again and pulled him.

He laughed. "You really are something, you know that?"

"Oh stop. I'm just me, nothing special. Now, tell me about this room." She had directed him into an open door. The walls were lined with bookcases and cabinets.

"This is the universal coven library. Here we keep everything vital to our heritage. There's even stuff in here dating all the way back to when our covens were one." He let her go to unlock one of the cabinets.

She had been walking around, lightly running her hands along the worn leather bindings. Glancing up she saw him setting down the Master Tool box inside the cabinet. "We're done working with those?" she asked quietly.

He looked at the box in his hands, then back at her. "You want to keep practicing?"

Smiling eagerly, she said, "Of course!"

He grinned, pulling the box back out. Opening it, he started speaking again. "How about I teach you through telepathy?"

Diana felt her eyes grow wild. "That would be fantastic!"

Aidan was bending over, putting the anklet on her. "You can wear this and the cuff. I'll wear the necklace, since I'll be needing more power."

She held the cuff again, tracing the etchings, as he put the necklace around his neck. "Just like your cuff at home?" he asked.

Raising an eyebrow, she frowned. "How did you know we had an arm cuff?"

"I know a lot about the past, from when the covens split. I've gotten them in visions my whole life." He continued, pushing his sleeves up. "When your families decided to go to the New World, the original coven, as a group, melted down the first set of Master Tools. They consisted of a cuff, an anklet, and a diadem. From that, the village's silversmiths made our two sets of tools. A piece of silk that had been enchanted by the whole village was cut to make the pieces between the garter links of yours and the necklace links of ours.

"The original coven's markings were the complete cycle of the moon." He pointed to the links on his necklace. "Since only a small group of witches were leaving, they were given the emblem of a crescent moon, horns up."

"You guys didn't have a crystal skull of your own, did you?" Diana asked, grimacing.

Aidan laughed. "No, no." He smiled lightly, "Actually, to preserve our souls, we perform a ritual on the passing, so that it follows them to their incarnation."

"Really?"

"Yes. That's what every one of my lives have done. That's why I have so many visions."

She enjoyed this new view of reincarnation. "How many lives have you had?"

He shook his head. "I have no clue. Numerous. Every once in a while I'll get a small vision from a new one. I mainly only see the original splitting coven, though." He stopped, turning his head as he looked at her. "I just realized that you look vaguely familiar. I can't place exactly how, but I can see you."

She smiled, liking the notion that she had existed in the past. She remembered Cassie asking her if she had thought that souls could split. Turning to Aidan, she asked the same question to him.

"As a matter of fact, they can." He moved his fingers over a shelf of books on the wall, grabbing one towards the end. He opened it, scanning carefully through the yellow, brittle pages. He found the page he had been looking for and turned it towards Diana. There was a sketch--something that looked like it could be work from Di Vinci. The writing was illegible, but the picture gave the reader the idea.

Pointing, he explained what the pictures described. "With a soul traveling through different lifetimes, it slowly gathers more and more karma, kind of like baggage. After so many incarnations, the soul can't fit into a single form, so it splits into two.

"Another way it loses baggage is by giving life." He turned the page to show more drawings. This one was a diagram of a woman and a man, with what looked like mist inside of the stomachs. Arrows pointed down to an infant. "With every child, a new soul is reincarnated, most often an ancestor, but a small piece of the parents' souls are drawn with it. It keeps everyone connected."

"That's amazing . . ." Diana finally said, in awe.

"Mind boggling?" he smiled.

She nodded. "Yeah. But it makes me feel, I don't know. Good, I guess." She laughed, embarrassed at her lack of a better word.

He turned, placing the book back onto the shelf. "Come on, let's get started on the Tools."


	12. Connection

****

~Sorry I haven't updated in a while. My grandfather just passed away, so I had to take a little break. I'm back, but updates won't be too quick for a while. Thank all of you for continuing to read. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.~

Chapter 12

Diana positioned herself, standing directly in front of Aidan, and took a deep breath. She began to clear her head again, allowing the white light to take over her mind's eye. The cuff and anklet hummed on her skin and she could feel the energy connect each of them, running through her blood.

Aidan's voice came to her lightly. "When we connect, something's going to happen. Some people see it as a doorway. Whatever it is, allow it to go through."

She held her hands out, palms up. The heat of his hands was directly above her own, the presence getting stronger and stronger.

It started out subtly. The light in her mind turned to a glow of silver as their hands touched. She saw no doorway, but she suddenly felt a snap and was connected. And that's when it happened again . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Deena!"

Diana looked around. She was standing in a field of wildflowers, wearing a very long, very heavy, very black dress. _My name is not Deena, it's Diana_.

Her eye caught a girl running up to her. It looked just like Cassie, except she knew it wasn't. This girl's name was Hope.

"Deena, the ship has arrived. Dagan said we have to go now, the hunters are getting closer!"

Diana, or Deena, actually, grabbed the other girl's shoulders. "Hope, please calm down." She was surprised at her English accent.

"We have to leave." The girl was hysterical, tears streaming down her face. "Ashton is already there, waiting for you."

Deena walked with her, out of the field and into the woods. "Why can't we just go to the New World and find the others? I miss my sister."

"We can't find them. Hunters found them and they ran. Now we have no clue where they went."

They were moving at a faster pace now. Out of no where, Adam walked out to run with them. _Not Adam . . . Bradley_.

Hope reached out and grabbed his hand. The three ran together until Deena's foot got caught in something. _What is a piece of rope doing in the middle of the woods?_

She already knew the answer to that. It tightened on her ankles as she heard Hope scream. More rope went around her hands. "Air, water, earth and fire, please lead me with your guiding power . . ."

"Close it, you damned _witch_." The man behind her lifted her up, bringing his face close to hers. She could smell liquor on his breath, and the sweaty hairs of his beard scratched her cheek. "Don't use any of your powers on me." She felt heat close to her.

Deena could see Bradley standing in front of Hope, but a golden light was coming out of the trees behind them.

She screamed as an ember fell on her wrist from the torch the ugly man was holding.

The light exposed itself from the shadows, running toward her. Relief washed over her as she saw him. _Aidan_. "Ashton, help me!"

His golden hair was stuck to his forehead from sweat, and his eyes, the same color as his hair, were dilated, looking everywhere around him. "Deena!"

A dark figure loomed behind him. "Look out, Ashton!"

_Too late_. The figure had already caught him, tying him up and dragging him over next to Deena.

The silver light flashed, then thinned itself into a cord. Bright and strong, it connected Deena and Ashton together.

She looked over to see Hope and Bradley tied up as well, a silver cord of their own running between them.

All of them on their backs, she saw the fire grow in the woods.


	13. Sunshine & Moonlight

__

Thanks again to all of my readers for their patience in these past few weeks. It has all been really stressful. These next two chapters, in my opinion, aren't as great as some of my past, but I think they're still pretty good. I'm about to move in a week, so I'm going to try my hardest to produce some more chapters for you guys before I get too busy. I don't think I'll have it finished, but we'll just see, won't we? Please let me know what you think. I hope you really like the results!

Chapter 13

Diana opened her eyes. Plush burgundy carpet filled her slowly focusing vision. She grabbed it with her hands, reassuring herself that she was in the present.

She heard distant panting and looked up. Aidan was on the floor about three feet away from her on his back. He turned his head toward her.

"Does that happen every time?" she said, her voice raspy.

He didn't answer. Breathing hard, he put his hands down to prop himself up.

Diana looked down at her wrist, still feeling the burn. There was a faint red mark where the ember had hit.

She had begun to lift herself when he spoke. His voice was low, almost as if he were whispering to himself. "Together throughout time."

She turned her head quickly to him. "What did you just say?"

He grinned to himself and looked up. "Soulmates. Two people meant to be together through every lifetime."

Diana stepped back, only to find herself against a bookcase. She put her hand to her head, trying to remember the vision. She had been Deena, he had been Ashton, and they had been wrapped in a silver cord.

_"Well, the silver cord is something real, something in the old legends. The people it connects are soulmates—you know, meant to be together."_ Melanie's words from that day after the hurricane in Diana's back yard were ringing in her head.

Aidan had approached her. He lifted a hand cautiously, then brought it back to his side. He reached out and took the cuff off her arm, then went for the anklet. Setting them on the mahogany table next to him, he reached for the clasp on his necklace. "I don't want that to happen again."

Aidan turned slowly toward her. "I'm surrounded by people, but I feel completely alone. Kind of how you were describing your feelings earlier. I used to be so close, but now I'm alone."

"That's one reason why Nick and I came here. We both felt the same way."

"Why is it, that we've just met, but I feel like I can talk to you?"

Diana decided to make a bold statement. "Why is it, that when you touched my hand, I felt like I had known you my whole life?"

He looked at her with wonder in his eyes. "You felt that, too?" He had begun to walk around her.

She turned with him, almost like a dance, almost like a fight. "Yes. I felt knowledge. I felt wanting. I had known you forever, yet we only met yesterday. And it stopped when you lifted your hand, but I still feel the presence of it in my mind."

He stopped walking his circle. "That's exactly what I felt." He slowly went to reach for her hand . . .

Looking back later, she couldn't remember how it happened, but suddenly he was holding her. The bright silver light filled her sight, then thinned into a cord. She watched it meet between them and slowly wrap around their bodies, drawing them closer together. She breathed in quickly before his lips met hers.

The kiss was sweet, like nothing Diana had ever experienced in her life. She belonged in his arms, she knew him. He held her protectively, his hand in her hair, kissing her lighter and slower.

When they parted she sighed, leaning her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating rapidly. "I love you, Diana."

She smiled, holding him tighter. "I love you, too, Aidan."

They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, basking in the glow of each other's love. His gold like the sun, hers silver like moonlight.


	14. Awakened

****

Chapter 14

Nick looked over the engine in the '59 Cadillac. _Beautiful car_, he thought to himself. The body was in perfect condition, not a scratch in the cherry red paint. Even the white leather upholstery looked as if it had never been used.

He tinkered around the carburetor with a screwdriver, trying to determine what the problem was. For once he didn't have an urge to smoke. "Try it again!" he yelled.

Katherine, sitting behind the wheel, turned the key again. Nothing, just a click. Suddenly it came to him. He reached down in the metal monster under the hood and felt something loose under his fingers. "Aha!"

"You figured it out?" Elizabeth asked from beside him.

"I'm pretty sure I did." He picked up the grease rag and began to wipe his hands. "Where's the closest auto parts store?"

Katherine had left the car. "A little ways from town. Maybe a half-hour drive. What do you need?"

"I think the problem is in your starter. It shouldn't cost much." He put the hood back down.

"We can go now if you want?" She offered. "I'll just use my dad's car."

They began to walk towards her house. She reached the garage and began to punch numbers into the keypad next to the door.

"What kind of car does he have?" He was very curious. If she had a classic, what kind could her father have?

He almost fell to the floor when the door finished opening. Inside sat a brand new Dodge Viper. He walked around it slowly, watching his reflection gleam in the shiny jet-black paint. The tinted windows were dark, but he could obscurely make out the matching raven dark interior.

The jingling of keys woke him from his trance. He looked up in time to reach out and catch the key ring being thrown at him. Still shocked, he sporadically exchanged looks between the keys and Katherine.

She smiled at him lightly. "Why don't you drive?"

Nick felt his knees grow weak. Cars were probably his greatest passion in life, and now he had the chance to drive one of the many gods of the automobile nirvana. He immediately reached over and embraced her.

Something ran through his body, like a shock wave through the earth. He pulled back quickly, trembling. "I know you."

The look in her violet eyes had deepened, showing the same mixture of curiosity and fear that he was feeling. Her honey brown hair shimmered on her shoulders as she tucked it behind her ear. He had never noticed how beautiful it was until this very moment. That embrace had done something to him, awakened him somewhere that had been asleep since Cassie had said that things couldn't work.

A spark of a smile had begun on her lips. "I know you, too. How?"

As if to answer them both, a halo of silver light formed around them. He looked up and around, laughing as it thinned into a fiber of sliver rope, growing stronger by the second. As it weave around them, he looked down and into her eyes. "The sliver cord."

She opened her mouth in surprise. "You mean—"

He didn't let her finish. He kissed her mouth delicately. The wonder and knowledge grew inside of him, as if his heart was a balloon swelling in his chest. The kiss grew slowly more passionate, the feeling of her holding him closer only made the excitement grow.

After a long moment he pulled away, resting his forehead to hers with his eyes closed. "You're my soulmate."

He felt the quake of giggling run through her. He smiled, and knew at that moment, the Nick Armstrong that everyone had once known would never be seen again.


	15. New Coven

****

Chapter 15

Diana's euphoric state was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They both jumped to look at the door. The boy standing there looked vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't place where from. His hair was short and curly, like a mop of copper ringlets on top of his head, and his eyes were a deep forest green.

She looked up to see Aidan blushing. He smiled bashfully at the intruder, "Yes Colin, what can I do for you?"

The boy named Colin smiled. "I really don't mean to disturb, I just thought you'd like to know that we've had contact with a new coven."

Diana felt Aidan's hands tighten on her shoulder from excitement. "Are you serious? Two different covens in a month? What are the chances?"

Colin stepped into the room. "We've just received an e-mail from a girl named Sierra. She says that her family left the main coven before ours departed for here. They live in England now, and are interested in working with us."

A chill ran down Diana's spine. This didn't sound right.

Aidan was all ready talking ardently. "Get the others together. We'll hold a meeting tonight and decide what our options are."

As Colin turned to leave, Diana looked up at Aidan. "Do you remember this from any of your visions?"

He gave her a questioning gaze. "No, but I haven't seen the complete history from the past."

"Well," she bit her lip, thinking, "couldn't the history of someone leaving the coven be in a Book of Shadows? Don't you have an archive?"

He laughed. "What's the worry? We're in the age of technology, the Internet gives us access to everything we need to know. That's how you guys found us, isn't it?"

"I had to do a lot more research than just look you up on the computer. I had to go through local history books in my town's library, not to mention a lot of clever thinking." She turned away, walking toward one of the old bookcases. "I don't know. I just had a weird vibe. No big deal. This is your coven, whatever you choose is right."

She felt his hands on her shoulders. It was like electricity, causing her to lean back into his chest. His voice came lightly, right next to her ear. "You're a part of us now. You always have been. Just like you've always been a part of me."

He kissed her neck lightly, washing away all of the worry that had just flowed through her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nick saw the copper curled head walk into the garage from over Katherine's head. He stepped back, recognizing Colin from the night before. "What's up?"

Colin cleared his throat. "Aidan has called a meeting for tonight."

Katherine turned to look at him. "What is it about?"

"We've just found a new coven in England, and we're to discuss what we will do to make contact."

Nick pulled her closer to himself. He didn't like the sound of this.

"This is fantastic!" she cheered. "Usual time and place?"

Colin nodded, then made his way out of the garage.

She turned back to Nick, looking up at him. "Is something the matter?"

He shook his head, trying to bring back the smile he had before. "No, just thought that this was kind of coincidental. Two covens finding you so quickly."

"Don't worry about it." She ran a hand through his hair, bolts of electricity running through every place she touched. "Now that I've found my soulmate, what could possibly go wrong?"

A chill ran through him, then quickly went away when she touched his lips with her own.


	16. Nominated

Chapter 16

  
  


Nick and Diana sat next to each other in the large den of Aidan's house. She watched as Nick shared an ashtray with a boy, she thought his name was Dale. Turning to Katherine, they shared a disapproving look. Okay, so one thing hadn't changed . . .

Aidan stepped up in front of the group to start the meeting. "I'm proud to announce that we have found another coven!"

Diana watched as those not informed shared looks of amazement with each other. Gasps scattered through the crowd, and some clasped their hands in excitement.

Aidan continued. "This meeting is to decide on our method of visual contact. Either we meet them, or they come here. Any suggestions?"

No one in the crowd seemed to have an opinion. Diana cleared her throat and stood carefully. "I know I don't have much insight on this, considering the fact that you guys invited us here and all, but I say you go to them."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Is there a reason you feel this way?"

Suddenly self-conscious, she looked around the group. "I don't know, I just have this weird feeling that it would be safer for you to go to them."

"Well, that's understandable." He looked out over the crowd as Diana sat back down. "If there's no objections, then, we'll send out a party to see them. Five people should due. Do we have any nominations?"

One of the Torchia twins stood. Diana thought it was Aria. "I nominate James. He's very outgoing, and would bring a nice comfort to the new group."

After a few moments of agreement and debate, Aidan cleared his throat. "So far we have James, Danielle, and Katherine. Katherine, do you have a nomination since you were the last selected?"

She stood and smiled. "I have two nominations. I believe we should bring Diana and Nicholas with us."

Diana and Nick spoke at the same time. "That's really not necessary," Diana protested.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nick said shyly, shaking his head.

Aidan laughed, "I think it's a wonderful idea! With you two along for the trip, we can show them how we interact with a newfound coven. All in favor?"

Hands went up around the room. Diana could feel her face growing hot.

"Majority rules. Diana and Nicholas will go with. The group shall depart at sunset tomorrow. Meeting adjourned."

Diana sat frustrated as people crowded out of the room. Aidan came to sit beside her. "I really don't think I should go to represent you guys."

He lifted a hand and touched her cheek lightly, lifting some of the worry from her mind. "I told you, you are one of us. You always have been."

She sighed, defeated. She looked over at Nick as he lit another cigarette. He looked up and met her eyes, the same worry churning behind their mahogany vividness.

Turning back to Aidan, it was hard not to smile. He had a look of complete trust in his eyes and a smile that she couldn't help falling into. "Come on," he whispered. "I'll walk you to your room. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

She nodded lightly, taking the hand that he offered her. She shared one last look with Nick before leaving the room that said, "We can handle whatever we confront."


	17. Missing You

I know, it's been, like, three months since I've updated, and I'm SO sorry! My mind got focused on other stories and moving and the holidays . . . ugh, what a mess. Anyway, I'm putting my whole heart into this story until it gets finished (mainly because my best friend is threatening me with my life if I don't finish soon), so here's the beginning of a new start. Thanks to all of my reviewers, without you guys I wouldn't have the drive to keep working on this. Please, keep reviewing! I deleted Chapter 16 b/c I didn't like how mushy it was, and redid the chapter which is now Chapter 16. Without further ado, Chapter 17 . . .

  
  
  
  


Chapter 17

  
  


Diana woke to the afternoon sun. She had forgotten to draw the shades the night before.

Walking blindly, she stumbled through the hallway in her half-awake frame of mind and eventually made it to the kitchen, still in her pajamas. She ignored the grinning look she got from Nick as she sat at the breakfast table, pouring milk into the bowl of corn flakes that had been waiting for her.

"Didn't get much sleep either, I presume?" His bowl of cereal of half-eaten.

She shook her head, swallowing the food in her mouth. "Sleep didn't come easy last night. I just tossed and turned, trying to figure out what was wrong with this scenario. I wish I had brought my gems with me so I could have slept with an moonstone under my pillow."

Nick looked back at his food as Aidan entered the room. "Is everybody excited about this evening?"

Diana grumbled something, not even sure if she knew what she had said. She just wasn't a morning person today.

Aidan kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I told you. Don't worry. Everything will be okay. I'm going to go up to the library to get what you guys will need for your trip."

Diana nodded, giving him a loving smile. Even if she was grumpy, it was still great to have her soulmate.

Finishing her cereal and leaving Nick with a promise to see him later, she went up to her bathroom, letting the calming greens soothe her. One of the soaps smelled lightly of hyacinth, causing her to frown. She really did miss Cassie.

After she dressed, she picked up the phone, dialing the number from memory. Please let her be home . . .

"Hello?" a voice echoed through the line.

"Hey Cassie, it's Diana."

"Oh goddess! Diana! How is everything?" Cassie's voice was full of excitement.

Diana smiled to herself. "I have so much to tell you! Everything has been so great!"

"I really hope you're having a good time. How is Nick?"

"He's really good. You wouldn't even know him, he's such a different person here." She bit her lip, wondering whether or not she should speak of their new-found good fortune.

"Any cute guys there?" Cassie giggled, then heard her say in the background, "Oh stop it, Adam, I'm just kidding."

Diana laughed. "Yes, plenty. And there's one in particular . . ."

"Does Diana have a crush on someone?"

"It's a little bit more than a crush, Cassie."

There was silence on the other end. Then, slowly, "Diana, do you mean what I think you mean?"

Feeling herself begin to blush, she replied, "If what you think is that I've found my soulmate, then yes."

Girlish screaming rang through the phone. "Did you really? I can't believe this! This is so great!"

"Nick found his, as well."

"You have to be kidding. Both of you? I'm so glad he went with you. He really needed a change in life, and now he has his soulmate!"

"I'm glad he came, too."

"Oh," Cassie said quickly. "I forgot to tell you. I had a dream about you last night."

Diana moved to the edge of her seat. "What was it about?"

"It was kind of blurry, since I didn't have my moonstone, but you were meeting someone. Both you and Nick. Then something bad happened. Sorry, I know it's not very descriptive, but I didn't get too much sleep last night."

"I don't think anyone did," Diana sighed, her feeling of dread suddenly getting stronger. "Well, I better let you go." She didn't want to tell Cassie about the trip tonight. She didn't want to worry her. "Give everyone my love."

"Oh I will Diana. Tell Nick I say hello. I miss you so much."

"I miss you, too, Cassie. We'll get together and do something when I get home."

"That sounds wonderful. 'Bye!"

Diana returned the phone to its cradle. She had to tell Nick what Cassie had told her.


	18. Scorn

Chapter 18

Diana grabbed her overnight bag, walking slowly out the door of the room. The plan was that they were going to take a boat to London, where the coven was supposed to meet them at the port. Her dread had only grown all afternoon.

She had told Nick about Cassie's dream. He hadn't said anything, but she saw the look of disappointment in his eyes.

When she got downstairs, her fellow trip-mates were waiting, Nick being the only without a smile on his face. Aidan was there, lying on the couch . . . under a blanket?

She dropped her things, rushing over to him. "What's the matter, Aidan?"

He smiled at her lightly. "Oh, it's nothing, just a fever. The healers will be over in a little bit. Don't worry. You just have a good time. I'll be fit as a fiddle when you get back."

It all came clear to her. "We can't go on this trip."

He began to laugh but it ended in a cough. "Diana, I'll be okay. I've had fevers before, and I've lived."

She turned to look at the group. Nick had a questioning face, but Katherine knew what Diana meant. "Maybe we shouldn't go."

Aidan's face seemed to wrinkle, starting to get annoyed. "This is nonsense. You are going and that's final."

Katherine spoke to the group. "If you guys could leave the four of us alone for a minute?"

Everyone looked at each other, then turned and exited the room. Diana put her hands on Aidan's head, feeling extreme heat coming from under the skin. "Aidan, I don't want to bring this up, because I know it's probably a horrible memory for you, but do you remember what happened to you before your mother left?"

His face fell. He looked at Katherine, lips slightly parted, then back to Diana. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me. You remember. Nick and I have been having bad feelings about this since we first heard yesterday, Cassie had a dream that something bad was going to happen to both of us, and now you have a fever. Plain and simple. For the sake of your coven, we are not going."

He sat up quickly, so fast that he almost fell back to the couch. Diana caught him, but he still had the look on his face as if he had just been scorned. His accent was thick and his voice was strong. "This is my coven, Diana. You will not tell me what I will have it do. Now, you are all getting on that boat and meeting the new coven. Is that understood?"

She stood, taken aback. Nobody had ever spoke to her like that before. She looked to see that even Nick and Katherine were shocked. She turned back to her soulmate, feeling the pain in her heart take over her face. She spoke barely above a whisper. "Yes, Aidan. I understand. I guess we'll be going now."

She turned so that he couldn't see the tears in her eyes. She held her head high and started toward the door.

His voice came hushed, lighter than he had just spoken to her. "Diana, wait."

She kept walking, letting a tear slip down her cheek. She knew Nick and Katherine had started to follow her. No matter that her gut instinct was screaming for her to run upstairs and lock herself in her room, she kept heading out the door.


	19. Waiting

Chapter 19

  
  


Diana sat on the deck of the boat, staring off into the night sky. She felt bad for just walking away from Aidan, but it was the only thing she knew to do. There was obviously nothing more to argue about. And no matter what she did, the apprehension inside her chest only grew.

The faint smell of cigarette smoke came to her in the wind. She turned and smiled at Nick.

"Is it just me," he asked between drags, "Or is this a really big mistake?"

She sighed, looking out over the water. "Why isn't anyone else getting this feeling? I mean, their powers should be further developed than ours, they've had years upon years of experience. I just know something's going to happen."

Katherine had walked up silently beside Nick. "I'm starting to get the fear, as well, Diana. It came when I realized that Aidan was getting sick. Now it's only getting larger. What are we going to do?"

Diana shook her head. "Do James or Danielle feel weird at all?"

"No, they just think we have the jitters. They say they only have optimistic feelings from this adventure."

Determined, Diana pounded her fist on the bar on the side of the deck. "With or without them, we're going to have to make a plan. A way to get out of this . . . but how?"

She hadn't expected it, but Nick was the first to speak. "The telepathy!"

Both girls looked at him, bewildered.

He laughed, "Don't you see? There's no way for us to get out of this, right? No turning back now. Not to mention, what if we are just nervous? So, we go along with this, meet the new coven, do this interview process that we have to do. And if something happens, we can use the telepathy to contact the coven back in Ireland. They'll be able to find us."

"Nick, even if we can contact them," Diana said, lightly chewing her lower lip, "How will they find us? What if we don't know where we are to tell them?"

Nick shook his finger, making a light clicking sound with his tongue. "You are forgetting a very important piece of our recent past. Remember when you girls had your ceremony at the crossroads? Cassie wandered off to bury that box, and Black John's spirit tried to catch her, right? Adam knew she was in trouble, and where to find her. And then, on Thanksgiving, when Sally and those witch hunters kidnaped her, Adam was able to trace her into the woods."

Dawning realization began to grow through Diana. "The telepathy that they shared, he was able to directly find her! And if the three of us work together, we can make the power stronger!" Something occurred to her just then. "Wait, we don't know that much about telepathy, though."

Katherine smiled. "I can help you! We don't have any of the master tools here, but I'm pretty sure I can teach a little, enough to get you started at least."

Clapping his hands together, Nick smiled. "All right, then! Let's get cracking!"

  
  
  
  


The boat docked just after the sunrise. Diana had stayed up to watch it, even though she knew she needed the sleep. They had worked all night, trying to increase their powers. She hoped they had done enough.

She walked onto the dock with her four companions, looking to see if there was anyone waiting for them. Not many people stood around, mainly fishermen.

Danielle looked confused, her midnight black hair swaying around her face as she walked. "This doesn't make any sense. They should be here."

Diana and Katherine shared a look between them. The group continued to walk through the harbor, before stopping at a row of benches. James shook his head. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. I say we find something quick to eat while we wait."

Danielle nodded in agreement. "Me, too."

Nick spoke after lighting a cigarette. "I think we'll just wait here, see if anyone shows up."

Diana sighed with relief. She hadn't wanted to go anywhere. Danielle and James went off, turning a corner to find something.

The remaining three sat on their bench, waiting for their friends to return. After a few minutes, a cold chill went through Diana's body. Something that seemed vaguely familiar, yet she couldn't place it. She finally stood, realizing that they had been gone for way too long. "I'm going to go see where they are. They're taking to much time."

Standing, Nick shook his head. "You shouldn't go alone. We'll come with you."

"No, don't worry. I'll be fine. You two need to stay here in case anyone shows up." Without waiting for argument, she turned in the direction they had disappeared to.

She knew they had gone up here, then taken a left between some buildings. She took the path quickly, hoping to find them nearby. As she took the corner, she felt the cold chill again. This time it was stronger. Almost painful.

She fell to the wall next to her, feeling herself get weak. She should have known something like this was going to happen. With the last of her quickly draining energy, she called to Nick and Katherine with her mind. As soon as she finished, everything went black.


	20. Clarity

I know these chapters have been really short, and this one is no exception. Longer ones will be coming, I promise.

  
  


Blaise - Thanks for the compliment, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I'm hoping to have it finished in the next few days. Keep your fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath.

  
  
  
  


Chapter 20

  
  


Aria sat in the kitchen of the Smith house, putting the finishing touches on the tea she was brewing. She stared at the clock on the wall, noting that the sun would be setting soon. She shook her head, worried. The team was sent out over three days before, and still not a word. Nicholas and Diana had already missed their flight home.

She looked at the swinging door as her twin entered the room. Meeting her sister's darkened blue eyes, already knowing the answer to her question. "Any better?"

Natasha shook her head solemnly. "He's only getting worse. The chills are horrible, and he can't even tell we're here."

Aria handed the warm mug in her hand to her sister. "Is anybody left?"

"Caleb and Erin are sitting with him." Natasha sat down at the counter. "Elizabeth had to leave. She couldn't stop crying."

Aria was about to comment, but a dark feeling went through her mind. A cold chill ran up her spine, causing a low yelp to escape her throat. She turned quickly to see that Natasha had felt the same thing. Tears were filling the other girls eyes. 

A scream rang through the house. The sisters were on their feet, running. They entered the living room to see Erin cradling Aidan's shaking body in her arms, tears spilling onto her cheeks.

Erin looked at them, exasperation taking over her face. "What are we going to do? Something's happening to them! I can feel it!"

Everyone jumped when the phone rang, except for Aidan, who was still in his own world. Aria grabbed the cordless quickly, pushing the talk button. "Hello?"

The girl on the other end of the phone sounded like she had been crying. "This is Cassie Blake, Diana's sister. What's going on? Something bad has happened, something's wrong. Where's Nick and Diana? Their flight came in two hours ago and they weren't there!"

Unsure of how to say what was on her mind, Aria began to speak. "Cassie, my name is Aria Torchia. They went out with a group from our coven to meet a group of lost witches about two days ago. We haven't heard from them since. We know something's wrong, we just can't figure out what."

The girl in America was sobbing. "Diana's hurt. I know it."

Tears were coming to Aria's eyes. "Cassie, we're trying our best to figure out what to do. We're going to find Nick and Diana."

As if in response to hearing the name, Aidan screamed again. "Diana!"

Erin cried harder, pulling him close, rocking his body back and forth. She was whispering to him lightly. "It's okay, Aidan. Everything's going to be okay."

"What was that?" Cassie sounded shocked.

"That was Aidan," Aria sighed. She didn't know how to explain. "Whenever something is happening to someone close to him, he falls ill."

"He's Diana's soulmate, isn't he?" A new clarity came through the girl's voice.

Aria was nodding, knowing Cassie couldn't see her. "Yes, he's her soulmate."

Without warning, a new scream rang through the room, or so she thought. Aria looked around to see everyone looking around, including Aidan. The scream was feminine, from someone that wasn't with them, in the room.

"Did you hear that?" she asked quickly into the phone.

"That was Diana," Cassie replied. "It sounded like she was right next to me."

Aidan was lifting himself up on his own. It seemed he had broken through his illness. He looked around the group. "They're in trouble. I'm not going to just sit around this time. I will not lose another person that I love."

Aria had an idea. "Cassie, we need your coven."


	21. Determination

Chapter 21

  
  


Katherine's scream filled Diana's ears. She cringed, wanting to help but not knowing how.

Looking around the room, she had concluded that they were in a basement somewhere. Nick was next to her. He was beginning to stir, being woken by Katherine's pain. His eyes looked stricken.

"Where's Katherine? Something's happening to her." His expression went from terrified to shocked, looking over Diana.

She knew what he saw. She could feel the bruises growing on her body, still tasting copper in her mouth from where she had bit her cheek while being beaten. She shook her head. "I don't know. They took her about twenty minutes ago."

"Who's they? How long have we been here?" He tried to move, but the ropes around his ankles and wrists were heavily knotted.

Diana sighed. "I don't know. I only woke up a few hours ago when they took me into another room. I've only seen two of them, but they're wearing black clothes and staying in the shadows. My mind couldn't process anything else."

The dark figures entered the room, carrying an unconscious Katherine and throwing her against the wall between Diana and Nick. Nick tried to jump at them, only to be pulled back to the wall by his ropes.

Diana glanced over the girl's body next to her before turning her head away quickly. They'd been worse on Katherine. They didn't bother to tie her back up. She wasn't going anywhere too soon.

They walked to the opposite wall and grabbed Danielle. Her black hair was tangled around her face, and the look in her eyes was of complete horror. They dragged her away, kicking and screaming.

Once the heavy door slammed shut, she looked up to meet James' eyes with her own. Nick was making noises, trying to wake up Katherine. James finally looked down, blood running from his scalp over the side of his face where the skin was faintly beginning to turn purple.

Tears came to her eyes. She was strong, but she didn't know how much more she could take. Being hurt herself, she could deal with it. But watching the people around her being abused so badly . . .

Turning her head, she saw Nick was crying. This was something she had never seen before. "Nick," she whispered. "It'll be okay. We have to put our power together. We have to contact them."

"I don't think that's going to be too easy." James' voice echoed through the cold room.

Diana looked up, shocked. "Why not?"

James sighed. "What they used to knock us out, it was iron, and something else I can't figure out. That's why we've been out for so long. A few days, at least. Iron drains our power. I don't know if we have any left to use. We haven't had enough time to build it back up."

She shook her head, refusing to believe him. "We have to at least try! That's our only option, and I'll be damned if we are going to let them get the best of us! The coven will find us. I know it."

Katherine was starting to come to. She mumbled something incoherent, leaning her head closer to Nick.

He turned to her, whispering gently, "What did you say, honey?"

She coughed, a splatter of blood staining the stone floor. Her voice was hoarse, but they could still hear her. "They're . . . witches."

James leaned forward from his spot on the far wall. "How do you know?"

She cleared her throat, speaking slightly louder. "I had a vision after I passed out just now. I saw the girl's face as everything got dark. In my mind, I saw her and a group of other witches leaving the original coven, being scorned. They wanted to do bad magic, but we didn't want to."

"That explains the other thing that weakened us," James said.

"If you had a vision," Diana whispered lightly, almost to herself, "Then we still have some power."

A scream echoed from the next room. Nick sat up, determined. "Come on you guys. Let's try. Whether it works or not, at least we know that we did our best."

Diana sat straight. This was going to take a lot of work.

  
  


Cassie held her overnight bag tightly as she walked through the gates at London Gatwick airport. She held Adam's arm with her other hand.

The rest of the coven was right behind her, Faye just to her other side. Coming toward them was an enormous group of teenagers, all beautiful beyond belief. Leading them was a tall boy, no older than her, with shining blonde hair and determined gold eyes that seemed to flare with bravery.

He greeted her quickly, yet politely. "Unity, I am Aidan Smith. You must be Cassie."

She nodded, taking his extended hand. "Unity. We'll introduce everyone later. What do we know so far?"

They walked hurriedly, guiding the two covens through the busy airport. Aidan spoke with a thick voice. "We haven't heard anything since last night when we received Diana's scream." Cassie noticed a brief flash of pain go through his face. "Their boat docked at a port not far from here, so we assumed that they're nearby. If nothing else, we can try to trace any energy they may have given off."

They walked out into the brisk cold. She pulled her jacket tighter, looking at the dark storm clouds above. Three white vans were parked with the doors open. Aidan turned to her. "It's going to be a little crowded. This was all we could get on such short notice. Some of my members and I will ride with your coven in the first van, while the rest of my group will follow in the other two."

Aidan got in the driver's seat while the Club hurried inside. Adam got into the passenger seat, while Cassie held Faye's hand and fit into the first row of seats with Deborah and some of the members from the other coven.

Cassie looked at Faye, seeing the look of hope in her eyes. She still couldn't believe how Faye had changed. Deborah's voice came from her other side. "It's been over the month since we've given a good ass-kicking. I'm ready."

Startled laughter came from the group, the Henderson brothers being the loudest. Cassie smiled, turning to her friend. "Leave it to you, Deborah, to make a bad situation look optimistic."

Just as Aidan was starting the engine a sensation ran through her. Not dark, like when she had realized something wrong. It was bright, like Diana.

She felt Faye's hand tighten and Deborah grabbing her arm. Suzan gasped from behind her. Looking up, she met Aidan's eyes in the rear-view mirror. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Adam turning to look at their group.

Aidan spoke softly. "They're sending us the last of their power. We can trace it from here."

With a squeal of the tires, they were off in the direction of the white power.


	22. Together

Chapter 22

  
  


Diana woke to the sound of Danielle whimpering in a corner. She looked around, noticing Katherine huddled against her, shaking. Nick wasn't in the room.

She realized she had passed out after giving the last of her energy into sending her power. She hoped it had worked.

The door in the corner flew open, slamming into the wall behind it, startling everyone. Danielle gave a loud yelp.

Nick entered the room, his head held high. He would have looked powerful if there hadn't been blood running from the corner of his mouth. He sat calmly next to the two girls, waiting as their interrogators tied him back to the wall.

Securing him in place, the two walked to the center of the room, the one with the figure of a woman starting to speak. "How fortunate we are to have with us members from another coven as well." Her accent rang through the small, dank room. "Too bad you won't be with them again."

Danielle wasn't handling herself well. "Why are you doing this to us?" she screamed. "We've never done anything to you!"

The woman leaned back her head and gave a loud laugh. The man next to her chuckled, but not quite as noticeably. She stopped abruptly. "Your ancestors shunned us. We wanted to use the power we had to our full advantage, so we were forced to leave. I am the successor of my ascendants. It has been passed down to me from generation after generation to take revenge on you ignorant fools. My mother tried, but your parents defeated her and the others. They weren't strong enough. I am starting a new life for my coven. When you break and inform us of where the covens are, we will take back what is rightfully ours. Those who don't follow will die."

Diana smirked as Nick laughed defiantly. She knew what he was thinking. "Please," he breathed. "Give us a break. No more than a few months ago our coven defeated the spirit of an evil guy who had been dead for centuries. You better have more up your sleeves than just beating the Hell out of us. Though, I'd be a little pissed if I died from not speaking by your torture methods after the shit I went through with Black John."

It was hard for Diana to keep from giggling when she saw the look on the girl's face. She could see her now. A petite nose, forest green eyes, and a frown on her thin lips that creased her forehead.

"Did you just say Black John?" she demanded.

Nick was getting carried away. "Did I stutter?"

Outraged, the woman pulled a whip from her waist and snapped it against his cheek. He turned his face, not even taking a sharp breath. Diana had never realized how strong he was.

He gave her a look that could maim. "I hope you have more friends close by, not just the two of you. Otherwise, you're going to be severely outnumbered."

The woman chuckled. "By whom? The five of you? Three of you are tied up, the other two too weak to move. Tell me, you arrogant bastard, what do we have to worry about?"

"Us." A choir of voices came from the door in the corner, voices neither Diana nor Nick expected.

Cassie, Faye, and Aidan stood there, the light shining from behind them, giving them a movie-screen entrance. They entered the room, walking up to the two in the center. Each of them were in ceremonial clothing: Faye in her black slip, Cassie in the white one, and Aidan wearing white clothes underneath a green velvet cloak. Both sets of Master Tools were divided between them. Faye had the look of a jungle princess, her untamed raven black hair tumbling past her shoulders, the diadem nestled on top of the heavy mass, the cuff clinging tightly to her arm. Beside her, looking like an angel of savior, was Cassie, the anklet shining playfully in the low light, the garter belt set toward the top of her thigh. Aidan was strikingly handsome, the necklace glowing from his neck and the last arm cuff hidden under the cloak.

Diana had never seen them all look so beautiful.

Faye smiled ruthlessly, looking like the cruel girl she used to be. She walked up to the girl in the center of the room. Standing face-to-face, she spoke in the seductive tone she hadn't used since the disappearance of Black John. "I'll make you a deal, 'kay? You let go of my cousin, my friend, and the rest of their group, and we won't hurt you too bad."

The woman laughed, though not very convincingly. "You and what army?"

Faye gave her signature low chuckle, Cassie and Aidan smirking behind her. In a low, barely audible voice, she whispered, "This one."

Aidan called out loud. "Okay guys, you can come in."

Diana hadn't thought the room would be big enough, but to her amazement, every member of both covens filed into the room. She saw her group, heads high and looking fierce. Even Laurel and Sean looked unlike themselves . . . almost scary. The Henderson brothers wore expressions of pure menace. Cassie ran over to Diana and Nick, cutting their ropes first.

The guy who had been silent finally spoke, pushing the girl out of the way. "Fine, you want a fight? Then let's do it the right way. Outside on the green. Our coven versus yours. Magic against magic."

Adam was the one to walk up to him. Giving his gallant smile he spoke slowly, separating each word. "Bring . . . it . . . on."

Diana was freed as the two fuming witches pushed their way through the door. She hugged Cassie tightly, tears coming to her eyes. "I never expected you to be here."

Cassie was holding her just a close. "I had to save my sister."

Then the two girls were crying. "I missed you so much," Diana sobbed.

The New Salem coven circled them, pulling in Nick. Everyone was greeting each other, hugging and kissing, being careful not to hit either Nick or Diana where they were bruising.

Katherine came up and he took her in his arms gently. She was crying and all he could do was whisper things to her that no one else could hear.

The crowd parted slightly. Diana looked up to see Aidan standing in front of his group, looking at her longingly.

She smiled, letting more tears fall from her eyes. She tried to say his name, but it became choked between sobs.

Before she knew it, he was there holding her, kissing her lightly and touching her face. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I should have listened. I should have made you stay."

She was shaking her head. "No, this isn't your fault. I was being so stubborn!"

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," he said, tears coming to his eyes. "I was so afraid I had lost you."

"It's okay," she said, running a hand through his hair. "You're here now. We're here together."

He smiled, letting a tear slip over his cheek. "I love you."

Warmth spread through her body. "I love you, too."

"I hate to break up such a touching moment, as partial to them as I am," Adam said, smiling, "But we have some evil-witch-ass to kick, am I right, Deborah?"

"Hell yeah!" she hollered from somewhere in the mass. The Henderson brothers were doing war calls and Faye gave a loud roar.

This was her coven. And she had never been more proud in her life.


	23. The Battle

Chapter 23

  
  


Diana stepped out into the light of the waning moon, looking down at her white shift. She felt the weight of the diadem on her head and the heavy clasps of the garter on her leg. She held Aidan's hand as they led the two covens out and onto the green, where a large mass of teenagers awaited them. Good had evil outnumbered, but Diana wasn't so sure if they would be strong enough . . .

Faye and Cassie were beside her. "What are we going to do, exactly?" Faye whispered. "I don't think the 'Power over thee' stuff is going to pull it off this time."

Diana shook her head. "We'll figure it out."

The four leaders stopped in front of the group. The two covens lined up behind them, becoming one unified force. Diana had to smile when she saw the looks on the faces of the two leaders that had hurt her and her friends so badly. They seemed nervous.

She wasn't sure what was directing her, but she grabbed Cassie's hand. "Take Faye's hand, have her take the hand of the person behind her."

Cassie nodded. "Let the Master Tools play the game?"

Aidan laughed. "You bet." He was reaching back and grabbing Nick's hand from behind him.

The guy in front of the dark coven smiled. "Let the fun begin." And with that, a ball of black energy came flying at them.

Words sprang to Diana's mind. She said them in time with her three companions. "Diana, queen of the witches, protect us!"

A light came down in front of them, as if from the moon, blocking out the energy. The other coven scowled.

Aidan gave a confident grin. "Our turn."

Diana looked over her shoulder to see that everyone in the group was holding hands. Slowly, the power of the tools ran through her blood and through her fingers, connecting with the tools on her friends. Somehow, she knew the power was spreading through everyone.

In unison, speaking spells they had never heard before, the entire group called out together.

  
  


Air, Earth, Water, Fire,

Lend to us your fighting power.

Protect us with the good of light,

And banish the evil that haunts the night.

  
  


Slowly, letting go of each other, the power growing deep inside them, every witch on the good side cupped their hands together. A bright green light grew in each of them, quickly gaining heat. Holding it up to the sky, everyone except Diana let go, their energy growing above her own, connecting itself.

Suddenly becoming aware that the show was now hers, she stood confident, letting the words come from her mouth. "Breeze of the air, lift you!" The ball of green power floated from her hands, moving the cloud upwards. "Water of the river, move you!" The energy flowed toward the opposite group, standing in disbelief. "Heat of the fire, burn you!" The power fell on the coven, causing them to scream. She shuddered, letting out the last line in a terrible cry, "Mother of the earth, banish you!"

The ground began to shake violently, but the coven of good stayed still, back to holding the hands of their neighbors. With a loud crack, the earth opened, taking with it the coven of evil. As magically as it had opened, it closed. Not one dark figure stood before them.

Cassie turned to Nick, giving him a sly grin. "This time, we all did it."

Diana laughed, remembering the time after they had beat Black John, when Nick argued that Cassie was the one who had defeated him. She turned to her foster sister. "Yes, this time *we* did it."

A dull roar had started behind her. She turned to see the crowd slowly beginning to cheer. The New Salem coven just smiled, with the exception of the Henderson twins and Deborah, who were whooping and hollering with the rest of them. Nick was beside her, speaking to Katherine. "So, was this excitement enough for you?"

Diana laughed, turning to Aidan. "Come here, you," she smiled, pulling him to her lips. Mentally, she could see the silver cord connecting them.


	24. Conclusions

Chapter 24

  
  


"This house is incredible!" Cassie exclaimed, having just finished her tour of Aidan's house.

It was two days after the battle. Both covens were sitting in one of the Smith's immensely large living rooms. Faye was sitting next to Suzan, both of them in a deep conversation with Caleb and James. The Henderson brothers were punching each other, showing off for the giggling Torchia twins. Diana was sitting with Aidan, curled into his body, letting him run his hands through her hair. She smiled at Katherine, in a similar position with Nick.

Adam and Cassie walked up, holding hands. They sat down, sharing the ottoman in front of Diana. "So," Adam stretched, putting an arm around Cassie's shoulders. "What's the game plan?"

Diana raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Cassie gave a kind of half smile. "With you and Nick. Your soulmates are here. What are you going to do?"

Feeling a frown grow on her face, she turned to Nick. "I don't know. What do you think?"

She watched his eyes scan over the group, then back to Katherine. "I have no clue."

Aidan sat up. "I have an idea. Why don't you and Nicholas stay until the summer? Then, either our group can go to America, our your group can come back here. I imagine members here and members there will switch around, and the covens will be complete. By then, we should all have come to a decision of what we're going to do."

Diana smiled half-heartedly. She looked up at Cassie, seeing the tears welling up in her eyes. "I guess that will have to do for now."

  
  
  
  


Diana walked up Crowhaven Road. How many months had it been? Too many, she thought to herself.

Holding Aidan's hand, she admired how well the guys were doing on the restitution of the vacant houses. Correction: guy and girls. She could see Deborah and Erin stapling down shingles on the roof.

It had been great seeing her father, and the crones. They were all very impressed with Aidan. She still had no clue what she was going to do.

Her and Aidan walked down the bluff at number twelve to join the slowly growing crowd. Adam and James were manning a grill, while a huge game of frisbee had ensued. Suzan was yelling at Sean for spraying her with sand while she was sunbathing.

Cassie jogged up to greet them. Diana smiled, "Congratulations on the early graduation!"

Cassie blushed. "Thank you. I worked my butt off to do it."

"I bet you did." Diana looked up to see the roofing crew making their way onto the beach. "I guess we should get this meeting started."

"We were thinking," Cassie said shyly, "Faye and I, we thought that maybe you'd want to lead the meeting. You haven't been here in so long, and we miss you so much, we figured you'd like to do one of your old jobs."

Warmth filled Diana's heart. "I'd love to."

Taking her place in front of the finally settled group, she cleared her throat. "Today's meeting is to address a major concern at hand. The members of New Salem have spent one week in Ireland, and the Salem members have now been here a week. Now is the time to choose. Who will stay and who will go? If there aren't enough people to stay in New Salem, everyone's going to have to just vacation and stay with their original coven.

"Can I get a show of hands to who is going to stay in New Salem from the Salem group?" Slowly, one-by-one, hands began to rise. "I see the Torchia twins, Jordan, Caleb, Jon, Richard, and Erica. That makes seven." She sighed, her big moment was coming. "Can I now get a show of hands of the New Salem members that are going back to Ireland?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nick's hand raised, Deborah's right next to him. Diana gave a faint smile, noticing no other hands going up. She turned to look at Aidan, then Nick, both of them giving her reassuring smiles. Her eyes skimmed over the rest of her Club. Laurel and Melanie, her cousin Faye, Sean, Suzan and the Henderson brothers, Adam. Looking at Cassie's beaming face, she felt tears coming to her eyes. She was going to miss her the most.

Slowly, she raised her hand, trying to keep the tears from spilling over. She didn't understand why Cassie was still smiling. Wasn't she going to miss her, too?

Cassie and Adam looked at each other, sharing a knowing grin. Suddenly, they each had a hand in the air.

Diana's hand dropped. "What?"

Cassie stood up. "Since I'm out of school, Adam and I decided to give it a try."

"But what about your mom? And your grandmother, Adam?" Diana was in shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Cassie laughed. "We've had this figured out ever since we got back from Ireland. We knew you wouldn't leave Aidan, so we made plans to come to you. It's all figured out. My mom's going to take care of Adam's grandmother, and we'll still come back and visit. Faye's going to take over as mandatory leader." She gave her a sly grin. "Besides, I have to be there in case my sister ends up in trouble."

Diana ran and embraced her. "This is going to be so great. "

Cassie whispered in her ear. "I promise, things won't get like they were before you left. I'll be there for you from now on."

Diana just held tighter, seeing Aidan smiling at her. She was going to have them both, her sister and her soulmate.


	25. The Epilogue Sunrise

Epilogue

  
  


Many moons later . . .

  
  


Diana stood in front of the audience. She looked down the long line of girls she stood at the head of. It was the largest bridal party she had ever seen. Of course, there were just as many groomsmen. The field they had chosen had to be the most beautiful shade of green in Ireland, almost the color of a peridot.

She played with the one on her silver chain around her neck. All the girls were wearing white dresses with the iridescence of their working color. Even though her working color was white, her own dress glimmered a vibrant opal under the shining sun. Faye's turned a beautiful scarlet when the light hit it just right. Cassie's was a silvery blue. Tears came to her eyes looking at her best friend, her sister. She was so happy to be standing right next to her.

Turning her head back to the ceremony, Mrs. Burke was finishing. "I now pronounce you, Mister and Missus Nicholas Armstrong."

Diana clapped, ignoring her bouquet of lilies. Tears were falling down her cheek as Katherine and Nick shared their first kiss as a wedded couple.

As the wedding party made their way back up the aisle, she joined hands with Aidan. He had stood next to Nick as his Best Man.

The whole mass of people walked their way back to the Smith house. Upon entering the first living room, a twelve tier cake sat in the center. Streamers and balloons were everywhere, and in the corner, a small string quartet was playing.

The evening was beautiful. Both Diana and Aidan had given there speeches eloquently. While dancing, he smiled at her. "Just think. Some day, you'll be Diana Smith."

She felt a playful smile grow on her face. "Gee, how . . . puritan."

"Come here, you," he laughed, pulling her closer and kissing her.

Diana and Cassie danced together as well, the guys just standing back and chatting. "I had an idea," Cassie said, her face gleaming with happiness.

"What's that?"

"Why don't we get married together? Adam and I, Aidan and you. I mean, it's up to you, but I thought it would be so wonderful, my Maid of Honor getting married with me."

Diana giggled. "That would be the best, except you guys are already engaged," she pointed at the diamond on Cassie's finger, sharing a gold band with miniature pieces of a chalcedony rose. "You'd have to wait for him to take the big jump." She nodded her head over at Aidan.

Cassie shrugged. "I don't think it will take him that long. Besides, it would be well worth the wait."

"I'll talk to Aidan about it when the time comes."

Diana danced so much that night. She'd taken turns with all of her original coven members, plus some from her new coven. Most of the night, though, she spent in Aidan's arms.

The party continued into the early morning. While it was still dark, Aidan took her out to the field behind his home. The deep lilac of the twilight spread through the sky, promising a soon rising sun.

She sighed, looking out among the acres of green that expanded in front of her. She relaxed on a blanket Aidan had spread on the grass. Opening a bottle of champagne, he carefully poured a glass for each of them.

Raising his glass, he began a toast. "To a wonderful night."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the sun beginning to show itself over the horizon. "And to the promise of a new day."

They clinked glasses, each taking a sip. "A little birdie told me you liked sunrises."

She smiled, looking at the slowly rising sun. "What else has Cassie told you?"

"That a sunrise would be the best time to ask you to be my wife."

Diana, coughed, turning to look at him quickly. She hadn't noticed that he had moved onto his knee.

"Diana?" he asked quietly, opening a small blue velvet box.

Lightly gasping, she was awestruck. Inside the box was a heart shaped diamond with a tear drop peridot to each side of it upon a white-gold band.

She was getting on her knees, shaking terribly. Her eyes were filling with tears for the umpteenth time that day.

He continued to speak as he took the ring from the box. "We've spent so many lifetimes together. Would you do me the honor of spending this one with me as my wife?"

The tears were spilling over as he placed the ring on her finger. She smiled at his expression of love and care. Unable to speak, she answered him with a kiss.

When she pulled away, he grinned. "Good. Now neither of you have to wait too long for a wedding."

Diana was confused. "What?" Then she heard something behind her. She turned to see Cassie running to her, arms outstretched. Adam was slowly walking behind her.

Diana stood just in time to catch her. "You little sneak," she laughed, hugging her close. "You knew about this all along. You guys had this planned."

Adam smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "I'm glad we could be a part of it."

She went back to Aidan's arms, her fiancé. Together all for of them watched the rest of the sunrise. She watched as the silver cord wrapped around them, then extended to Cassie and Adam. The girls shared a knowing smile.

"I love you," Aidan whispered.

From the center of the universe, Diana smiled.


	26. An Author's Note Thank You!

Author's Note:

  
  


I would just like to take the time to thank every single one of my reviewers since this story began. You have all made me feel so good about this story, so I finished it, just for you!

  
  


fierybel, Jaded Lioness, 

neona-deniker, Windiain, Cristina, icepixie, leian, becca the crazo, onelastcry, bluestars188, scooter, Blaise, and Lily Fireheart

  
  


A huge thank you to my best friend Deanna. If it weren't for her (and her threats on my life and of major bodily harm), this story would be nothing. When I needed something to make the story interesting, she was there with the answer.

Please, review the last six or seven chapters that I added this weekend. I would like to know how you feel about the battle and the epilogue. I felt the epilogue was a little mushy, but I couldn't help myself. Diana needed it.

I tried my hardest to stay true to LJ Smith and her characters. I know it was kind of hard for everyone to adapt to a new Nick, but I was trying to defend his character, which is so often bullied in other SC fanfics. I wanted to show that Cassie still held a place in his heart, but a new atmosphere can really make a difference in someone's personality.

Once again, thank you so much. Every review I've received lately I've replied to (if I could remember or had the time), or I've reviewed their stories, and I promise to try my best to keep doing it. I hope you like my new Secret Vampire story that I'm going to start posting tomorrow. I'm also going to add an original short story to my resume of fanfiction.net stories that will be coming up shortly.

  
  


Unity & Blessed Be,

~*Soraia*~


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